From a school friend's studio to establishing his own ceramic studio tower in the heart of Tallinn's Old Town, Urmas Puhkan is a master with over three decades of experience in the field of ceramics. He has a boundless imagination and draws inspiration from bouncing off ideas with like-minded friends and artists. His works are surreal, utopian and don’t hold a distinct style, but vary in their lively nature. A master whose works encompass a process that is in constant flux through life's happenings and team discussions, all that enliven this craft! Now he is passing on his knowledge through workshops and by teaching at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

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Take your creative spirit with you and step into the Old Town's historical Loewenschede Tower to learn about the fascinating world of ceramics under a ceramic master's instructions. During the workshop you will create ceramics with your own hands, learn different techniques of clay modelling and furnace burning of ceramic objects. Also, you have the opportunity to climb the 5 floors of the historic tower and discover what is hidden on each floor! During the experience all equipment, tools, and materials are provided by the studio.
This course can be organised four times a week; every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Please book this experience in advance.

Handcrafting ceramics courses in Tallinn

Create your own ceramic object

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Take your creative spirit with you and step into the Old Towns historical Loewenschede Tower to learn about the fascinating world of ceramics under the ceramic master's instructions. During the workshop, you will be creating ceramics with your own hands, learn different techniques of clay moulding and furnace burning of ceramic objects. Also, you have the opportunity to climb the five floors of the historic tower and discover what is hidden on each storey. During the experience all equipment, tools, and materials are provided by the studio. This course can be organised four times a week; every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Please book this experience in advance.

Ceramics workshop

Ceramics classes in Tallinn

During the workshop, you will be creating ceramics with your own hands, learn different techniques of clay moulding and furnace burning of ceramic objects.

Create handcrafted ceramic objects

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Since 2017, Urmas has experimented with the use of a 3-D clay pen. In 2018, he held a solo exhibition at the Estonian Applied Art Museum. The Nerves series, created with the 3-D clay pen, contemplates notions of what make us feel anxious.

Närvid

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This stoneware sculpture, finished with porcelain, glaze and copper wiring, was created for, and presented during a group exhibition, NEOEKSPREPOST. The inspiration for the piece were comical thoughts on the concept of Punk Baroque, playing with positive surreality.

Punk Baroque

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The inspiration for this red glazed stoneware sculpture came to Urmas on a rainy Sunday when listening to old vinyl LP's, which is why it is called Rainy Sunday Vinyl Listener.

Vihmase pühapäeva vinüülikuulaja

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This work was made for Urmas Puhkan's exhibition Õ, organised by the Estonian Ceramicists Association. The alien-like figures were made from stoneware and curved glass was used to create the lifelike eyes.

Tegelased õõvarist

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Urmas Puhkan likes to incorporate a variety of materials into his ceramic sculptures. These two red stoneware sculptures allude to both industrial metal structures and human movement. f

Skandeerijad - Chanters

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Julia Valtanen is based in Tallinn, Estonia. She graduated with a Master's degree in Graphic Design in 2011, after which she completed a painting course at the Estonian Academy of Art. Today, Julia works in her studio as an artist at Ars-i Maja, an art factory located in Tallinn. The main areas of her work are painting and paper collages. She rethinks natural forms and explores new materiality by creating new spaces in her art, and is truly interested in exploring how everything is connected and how things influence each other.

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Liisu Arro comes from a family of painters and has always loved to work with her hands. She enjoys creating practical everyday objects. Liisu believes that every day should have a moment of joy, beauty and celebration; one's decoration choices should  serve to whisk away the dullness of life. Why hide the beautiful tableware for specific occasions when you have the opportunity for  daily joy through using your favourite cup? Her beautiful handmade works have been exhibited extensively in her home country and further afield in Germany, Denmark and England. Now through crowdfunding and public support, she has managed to build her tableware brand, Arro Porcelain and continue her fulfilling profession as an artisan.

Arro, Liisu

Everyday joy

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Eddi Leet is a mechanical engineer by profession but became an artisan after being an apprentice to the Norwegian master ceramicist Carl Olaf Olsen. After his two-year apprentice learning how the whole ceramic studio operates, he set up his ceramic studio in 1995 and started teaching local Estonian apprentices. He travelled and worked together with Urmas Puhkan creating various clay installations in several countries and representing Estonia. With a mechanical perspective, Eddi creates fascinatingly poetical and extraordinary ceramics that inspire many around him. He has won several Baltic wheel throwing competitions and is regarded as the master of the clay squeezer. One of his hidden talents is not only creating beautiful ceramics but also building kilns for ceramicists.

Leet, Eddi

Crystal ceramics

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From the moment Raili Keiv was introduced to porcelain, there was no looking back. Now she collaborates, experiments and explores how to create the perfect ceramic objects with a twist. Like miniature pieces of architecture for your table, her artworks last for decades and have a green footprint. She has mastered the art of mixing different materials with ceramics, such as wood. This is reflected in her recent series called Porcelain Meets Wood, which is inspired by Estonian forests. Her artworks have machine made precision but are actually entirely handmade from her studio. She is an artisan who loves to design, but would never stop working with her hands!

Keiv, Raili

Tableware with a twist

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From an early age, Anne Türn grew up with her hands in clay alongside her mother, who was a ceramic technologist. She even built her own kiln during her studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Ever since then, she has taken her own independent path, overturning assumptions, pushing boundaries, searching out the unknown and trying to find unique outcomes. She has pursued her career fearlessly, taking clay and its possibilities to new heights by combining it with glass, light and other interesting materials. Her delicate yet enchanting works have been exhibited around the world, and Anne has been recognised by several international and local awards, including the GIC Biennale Icheon, Prize de Caroque and Ceramics, and the Colours Award Faenza.

Türn, Anne

Making miracles with materials

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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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