Stepan Soultanian was 15 when he met a violin repairer. This encounter sparked his curiosity for violin making. The sight of all the tools and the smell in the workshop fascinated him so much that he made this craft his career. Most people don't realize that the arching and the thickness of a violin is carved from solid wood with an accuracy of one tenth of a millimetre. Hence, he advises young people who want to follow violin making to be committed to their craft but not to expect to get rich from it. The magic transformation of a piece of wood in a musical instrument of high quality happens on the hills of Mazotos, Larnaca, in a workshop placed between sea and mountain. A highlight in his career was his meeting with great Maestro Salvatore Accardo. Stepan showed him a violin that he had made and the Maestro recognized the model and was impressed with the tone.

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This viola is scaled down and modified version of the “Conte Vitale” 1676 viola by Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698) di Cremona. The distinctive high arching creates a large air volume within the body resulting in a deep, rounded tone that is powerful and sensitive. The head has been reduced to make it lighter and more comfortable. The golden spirit varnish is reminiscent of the original instrument.

Viola

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This Cello was based on a 1740 Domenico Montagnana (1687-1750) made in Venice. With their graceful curves and harmonious proportions, Montagnana's cellos are considered to be some of the finest sounding instruments. The varnish is a combination of oil and spirit. The tone is deep and powerful with bright overtones.

Violoncello

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Stepan modelled this violin after the “Messiah”, made in 1716 by Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) from Cremona. The wood used was acquired from an old Belgian violin maker and is over 80 years old. It was varnished using a combination of oil and spirit. The tone is rich and deep with bright harmonics.

Fiddle

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Stepan modelled this instrument after Francesco Rugeri (1620-1698) di Cremona, a pupil of Nicolo Amati. The elegant violin was entirely handcrafted, paying close attention to balance and harmony in contours and shapes. It was finished with spirit varnish to enhance the beauty of the wood. The tone is bright and solid with clear overtones.

Violin

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Established in 2015, the Phivos Stavrides Foundation – Larnaka Archives is a research centre for the history and culture of Cyprus, focusing on literature, archaeology and immaterial cultural heritage. Its collection includes more than 50,000 documents, old and rare books and unique publications from or pertaining to Cyprus. The foundation organises conferences, exhibitions and events, and publishes books on history, art and crafts in collaboration with its partners. It designs and curates museum exhibitions relating to traditional Cypriot crafts and their application to contemporary life, and arranges practical workshops to promote the learning of traditional crafts, such as Lefkara lace, with special emphasis on their development according to contemporary aesthetics and the needs of local society.

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From a very early age Joanna Louca was surrounded by textiles. “My grandmother was a lacemaker, so I would spend hours with her, assisting,” she says. The meticulous nature of the work fascinated Joanna. This, and a deep passion for the arts, led her to study woven textiles at Middlesex University in the UK, followed by a master’s degree in textiles at Goldsmiths University. Joanna then worked as a freelance textile designer in London, creating unique woven pieces. In 2001, she decided to move back to her native Cyprus where she launched her own brand as well as a workshop that now houses three large Dobby looms. She focuses on experimental textile work, creating functional textiles for architectural and interior spaces.

Louca, Joanna

Thread by thread

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Margarita Raouna has been embroidering the unique patterns and using the techniques of Lefkara lace since she was 8, learning from her grandmother. Her first piece of embroidery was a long runner with the Da Vinci design. She is a dedicated embroider, who does not spare time when embroidering fine, perfectly made lace with patterns inspired by the village tradition and enriched with her own creativity and imagination. She would like to see young people taking up the craft and keeping it alive, however the enormous amount of time required to finish a piece is a deterrent factor for local youth. Her embroidery was exhibited at the Homo Faber exhibition in Venice.

Charalambous, Margarita Raouna

For the love of Lefkara lace

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Efthymios Symeou designs and creates his own prototypes and moulds, produces wheel made functional ceramic ware and unique artworks. Being an expert in museum replicas, he draws inspiration from motifs and patterns from Cyprus' ancient and medieval history and culture. He has collaborated with the Cyprus Handicraft Centre, that aims to support and protect Cyprus traditional craftsmanship. He is fascinated with the endless possibilities to explore with clay and the freedom to work at one’s own pace.  Aiming to inspire more people through ceramics, for the past nine years he has been offering training courses on ceramics at the Adult Education Program of the Ministry of Education, teaching more than 90 adult students every year.

Symeou, Efthymios

Ceramics inspired by Cyprus

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Sahand and Navid Gholipour were born in Iran, and are now based in Limassol, Cyprus. Sahand has a diploma in Electrical Studies while Navid has long worked as a graphic designer. Initially self-taught, they worked on small scale objects, the challenges and details presented by wood led them to become professional woodworkers. They started working out of their garage-turned-workshop and in 2016 they officially opened their wood workshop in old city of Limassol. Their designs merge the diversity of Eastern forms with Western modern design and seek innovation while respecting tradition both in functionality and form. As a result what emerges through their objects is a sensitive and joyful approach to creativity. Their furniture pieces have been exhibited in various exhibitions in Cyprus and in 2019 they received the BigSEE Wood Design Award.

Gholipour, Sahand & Navid

From craft to art

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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.

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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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