Rose Ekwé's studio merges textile design, weaving and research. She learned the technical know-how at École Duperré in Paris. Her diplomas at HEAR Mulhouse and an internship at Fab Textiles in Barcelona cultivated her interdisciplinary curiosity and innovation around sustainable alternatives for the textile industry. Rose was faced with the limits and polluting properties of many modern materials while experimenting with fine plastic tubes and nylon. Finding an alternative required a lot of creative thinking and research. Rose led the way through empirical research and the support of engineers to develop yarns made from seaweed. “I am using local materials that are invasive – or seen as waste – and finding ways to enhance them. My great desire is for things to remain useful. Circularity is key.”

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In the neighbourhood of the historically famous Bastille, a variety of craftspeople devoted to the promotion and discovery of craftsmanship can be found. Plan a trip to explore a variety of crafts, from leatherworking to featherworking.

Paris: in the shadow of the Bastille

While visiting the capital, come and take a walk in the historical neighbourhood of La Bastille. Follow our 12 recommendations to discover this area and its resident master craftspeople and workshops.

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Gelotextiles® are soft, compostable and ecological materials, designed and woven in Rose Ekwé's workshop, on a blade loom. Their patented composition combines Gelofils that she makes with French and European raw flax and hemp yarns certified by Masters of Linen, Oeko-tex and European Flax. Before being woven, all the yarns are dyed, here violet and natural beige shade, in her workshop using vegetable dyeing processes.

Gélotextiles® coloured from the Phytochrome n°1 Collection

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Gélotextiles® are soft, compostable and ecological materials, designed and woven by Rose Ekwé in her workshop, on a blade loom. Their patented composition combines Gelofils, in different beige shades here, that she makes with French and European raw linen and hemp yarns certified by Masters of Linen, Oeko-tex and European Flax.

Gélotextiles® samples from the Achromatic n°1 ERG Collection

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These Gelotextiles® are soft, compostable and ecological materials, designed and woven in Rose Ekwé's workshop, on a blade loom. Their patented composition combines Gelofils that she makes with French and European raw flax and hemp yarns certified by Masters of Linen, Oeko-tex and European Flax. Before being woven, all the yarns have been dyed in colours ranging from rose to yellow, dark purple and green in her workshop using vegetable dyeing processes. This example is from the Phytochrome n°1 Collection.

Gélotextiles®

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Emmanuelle Dupont had always been creative and tried many different crafts as a child. But it was only when she first visited the Duperré School in Paris that embroidery suddenly seemed the obvious choice. She was just leaving high school and still did not really know what she wanted to do, but during an open day visit she was particularly drawn to the embroidery department. She was captivated by the “extraordinary” possibilities offered by textiles, including the opportunity to experiment. Many years later, she still thinks the possibilities are endless.

Dupont, Emmanuelle

Adventures in textile embroidery

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Following a career in the design industry, Léna Perraguin decided to open her own workshop to start her craft weaving business. After launching her studio in 2018, the graduate from Ensci-Les ateliers in Paris, signed her first natural linen solo collection for interior decoration. Her style ingeniously adapts the technique of arm weaving on a loom and various braiding techniques inspired by basketry and macramé to result in tailor made creations. She specialises in weaving and braiding French rye straw for interior decoration and packaging, taking inspiration from ancestral textile techniques of different cultures. Her work expresses the natural beauty of raw materials, revealing their true nature, strength, and sensitivity.

Perraguin, Léna

Transforming rye straw

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Sylvie Deschamps grew up in Rochefort, France, a town chosen as a garrison and place of refuge for the French navy under King Louis XIV in 1665. This naval infrastructure sparked numerous industries, including gold thread embroidery for military uniforms. It was while visiting the military museum with her school that Sylvie first saw this work and decided it was what she wanted to do. Her subsequent studies in Rochefort, the only place in France to offer training in gold thread embroidery, confirmed her passion for this craft. Many years down the line, Sylvie continues this rich tradition, working on both traditional pieces and creative items that bring this ancient craft into the 21st century.

Deschamps, Sylvie

A real passion for a rare craft

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Clémentine Brandibas explores the art of embroidery by uniting beauty with subtlety; she expresses her sensitivity through her poetic needlework. Drawing her inspiration from nature, in all its richness, Clémentine’s paintings reflect organic landscapes and her palette of diverse tones and various textures invites us to contemplate nature's beauty. The illusion of embroidery fades under the finesse of her gesture. Clémentine masters a wide range of needle techniques, as well as dyeing and painting on silk. Self-taught, she subtly diverts and interprets the different methods. Feathers are one of her favourite materials: she has developed her own technique, “marouflage of feathers”, through which she skillfully works on cuts and shades.

Brandibas, Clementine

Poetic needlework

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Your authorizations

Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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