Sonia de Gerónimo has been involved in handicrafts since she was a child. However, she did not consider it a real career option until she graduated in fashion design, enrolled in various textile courses, and discovered cotton rope. In 2015, she started making bags and baskets out of this material, combining traditional craft techniques and innovative design notions she had gained during her studies. Two years later, she launched her workshop to create her brand, Degerónimo. Since then, she has tried to carve a place for herself in a world more and more focused on industrial production. She passionately believes her work with cotton rope can give a new twist to contemporary basketry.

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This plant pot in the shape of a sea urchin is handcrafted from cotton rope and hand embroidered with wool with French stitches. The design of the basket is inspired by the algae that carries the sea with the sand.

Sea urchin pot

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This plant pot is shaped like a sea urchin. The pot is made from cotton rope and hand embroidered with wool with French stitches. The design is inspired by the lichens that inhabit marine rocks.

Cactus and sea urchin pot

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This white hued vase is handcrafted from cotton rope and hand embroidered with wool using French stitches. The design of the vase is inspired by imagery of lichens that inhabit marine rocks.

Wool embroidered vase

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This basket with a lid is handcrafted from cotton rope and hand embroidered with wool using French stitches. The design of the basket and lid are inspired by imagery of lichens that inhabit marine rocks.

Basket

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This basket with a lid is handcrafted from cotton rope and hand embroidered with wool using French stitches. The design of the basket and lid are inspired by imagery of a wave breaking on the shore.

Basket with wavy lid

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Ana Isabel Fonseca Miguel's first experience of textiles was during her childhood when she learned the techniques of cutting, sewing, knitting and crochet. A few years ago she started her professional practice with the basic technique of the low-warp loom, thanks to her mentor, Ana Castro Borja. Since then, she has been practically self-taught. Her workshop, which opened in 2020, is recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. Her work is influenced not only by the region she lives in but also by the cultural legacy that accompanies her. For her, a quality artisanal product is an alternative to an industrial product and the key to success is to enjoy both the design and the weaving.

Fonseca Miguel, Ana Isabel

A natural approach

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Francisco grew up in the humble neighborhood of Cerro del Aguila, Seville. A devout Catholic, during a service he realised the Virgin never changed her clothes, and this is when he decided he would embroider some for her. Since those days Paquili, as everyone calls him, has become a beacon in the art of embroidery, both for religious and secular communities. The religious side of his work mainly focuses on respecting tradition and faith, creating trousseaux for the brotherhood processions in Seville, Andalucía and the rest of Spain. His non-religious work has included collaborations with institutions, bullfighters and several fashion houses throughout the years.

Carrera Iglesias, Francisco

Embroidering faith and fashion

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Ana María Santiago Lineros' career as a craftswoman began in 2005 when she decided to leave her job in business administration to enter the world of looms. Two years later she opened her workshop, which today is located in Jaén, in the Natural Park of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas, in southern Spain. Here she specialises in weaving fashion and home pieces, handwoven only with high-quality natural fibres, certified ecological or recycled. Among her pieces, she creates scarves, shawls, rugs, cushions, blankets, or personalized fabrics. The entire production process is done by hand, from weaving by hand, the design and the assembly of the warp on the loom to the weaving and finishing, even the washing of the pieces.

Santiago Lineros, Ana María

The world of looms

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Eva Escamilla’s professional path has always been focused on textiles, first as a designer, and since 2006 as an artisan with her own workshop. A native of Valencia, a town where the tradition of silk is important, this material together with felt became her material of choice to create her colourful and pattern filled fabrics. Eva masters different techniques such as manual painting and printing, batik, felting, shibori and dyeing, and expresses herself through the shades of nature. It is an organic process for her as she doesn’t feel she chose the craft, but the other way around through a spiritual connection between her soul and hands. She deeply values the relationship with her clients, and for her something is “well made” when she sees their happy face after a purchase.

Escamilla, Eva

Colours of the Mediterranean

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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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