The Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design is located in a late 17th-century storehouse in medieval Tallinn Old Town. The building's irregular white walls and vaulted ceilings provide an original backdrop to the largest selection of Estonian applied art and design including textiles, ceramics, glass, leather, metalwork, jewellery and product design. The collection's origins go back to 1919 when the Art Museum of Estonia was founded.

The 17,000 items represent 20th century and contemporary applied art, featuring both artists' pieces and products of distinguished workshops and manufacturers. The latest section of the collection, established in 1999, is dedicated to the best local product design from Luther furniture to Stigo electric scooters. In addition to the permanent display, temporary exhibitions on the ground floor showcase fresh perspectives; there is also a museum store and a charming inner courtyard.

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Located in the historic district of Kalsa in Palermo, Palazzo Butera is an 18th-century noble palace. Today it is a gateway to arts and cultures by the sea and is based on the celebrated art collection of Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi, in which artworks of different eras and cultures are juxtaposed. Sicily is an example of the coexistence and integration of cultures over its millenary history. Purchased by the Valsecchis in 2016, Palazzo Butera has been transformed into a museum and workshop open to the city thanks to complete structural and artistic restoration.

In 2021, Palazzo Butera reopened its doors to the public with the first complete display of the Valsecchi collection. Along the exhibition path visitors will encounter an important body of works of contemporary artists, such as Gilbert & George, together with ancient paintings, many sophisticated examples of applied arts (furniture, porcelains, glass) and objects dating back to the era of the Industrial Revolution.

Palazzo Butera

Gateway to the sea and its many cultures

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The Nezu Museum was created in 1941 at the final wishes of distinguished businessman Kaichirō Nezu (1860-1940), a fervent admirer and collector of pre-modern era Japanese and East Asian art objects since his youth. Kaichirō Nezu was a passionate practitioner of the tea ceremony and acquired historically renowned tea ceremony utensils, which made his private collection one of the richest in the country. Located in the heart of Tokyo, on the site of his family's former residence, the museum was renovated by architect Kengo Kuma in 2009. Behind the museum lies a splendid Japanese-style garden, a hidden gem in the heart of Tokyo.

The collection houses around 7,600 exceptional works, including 92 designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The objects range in genre from painting and calligraphy, to sculpture, ceramics, lacquerware and woodwork, bamboo crafts, metalwork, textiles, and Japanese armory. The rich collection of works is displayed in themed, temporary exhibitions held approximately seven times a year.

Nezu Museum

A haven for Japanese and Asian art

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"Old in age, yet youthful in spirit, brimming with treasures, and ever-evolving," captures the essence of the Eastern Slovak Museum in Košice. With its more than 150-year existence, it ranks among the oldest and most important museums in Slovakia. Its mission has remained unchanged since its origins: to attract a wide range of visitors, from curious children to real art aficionados. The museum currently manages more than half a million items in three collections: history, art history and natural history.

The exhibition spaces are open to the public in several buildings located in the centre of Košice. Historická účeľová budova is a distinctive palace building of Neo-Renaissance architecture, purposefully constructed and designed to serve as a museum institution, making it the pioneering building of its kind in Slovakia. Its attractive exhibitions of craft and fine arts are a fusion of exceptional collections with a modern touch. The building has been the museum's permanent home since its very first exhibition in 1903.

The Eastern Slovak Museum

Time-honoured artistic legacy

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The German Leather Museum showcases a unique collection of over 30,000 pieces spanning a period of six millennia and a vast geographic area. In 1912, the architect and museum founder Hugo Eberhardt decided to make his personal collection of historic objects available for teaching purposes for craftspeople. Today, this is known as the University of Art and Design (HfG) Offenbach. The German Leather Museum’s collection is truly unique, with its earliest exhibit of an Egyptian receptacle dating from the fourth millennium B.C. There is also a vast collection of leatherworking tools, luxury objects, warfare and hunting items, clothing, everyday items, and objects of religious and ceremonial significance.

Those interested in bags and shoes will find themselves delighted in discovering the museum’s collection of over 10,000 objects spanning historic pieces to present-day designs. The artisans showcased at the museum include Renate Müller, Ignatz Wiemeler, Otto Fratzcher, Ludwig Enders, Stephen Sprouse, Christian Dior, Josef Hoffmann, Hans Christiansen, Kaspar Meuser, Martin Margiela, and many more. Guided tours and workshops in German for children and adults will make your visit even more informative.

Ledermuseum

Six millennia of exceptional leatherwork

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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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