Italian
The artistic direction of Es Devlin is ready to illuminate “An Island of Light“ on the Island of San Giorgio from September 1 to 30 for an edition that promises to be rich in suggestions and creativity, where crafts become a means to create works infused with beauty
The fourth edition of Homo Faber Biennial has been presented, an international biennial event that celebrates human talent in the creative transformation of materials and contemporary artistic craftsmanship, shining a spotlight on the work of master artisans and craft artists from around the world. A highly experiential event, articulated through 15 exhibition spaces, taking place on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, in collaboration with the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Cologni Foundation for the Arts.
Alberto Cavalli, General Director of the Michelangelo Foundation: «Homo Faber is not a fair, it is not an event, but a celebration of beauty. And the biennial appointment of Homo Faber is just the tip of the iceberg of a constellation of events, actions, and projects promoted by the Michelangelo Foundation. Homo Faber is first and foremost a cultural movement that celebrates the creative and conscious transformation of materials; it is the expression of the authenticity of places. We invite those who are not artisans to think, to work, to live like an artisan: with meaning and awareness. Homo Faber 2026 will truly be the island of light imagined by Es Devlin».
Gianfelice Rocca, president of the Giorgio Cini Foundation: «With Homo Faber, the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the island are transforming. It is a very deep combination, making this island not only a place of extraordinary beauty but also of extraordinary thought; not just a platform to showcase beauty, but also a hub of young people, scholars, creators, developers, and talents. Homo Faber showcases a surprising contamination of thought and craftsmanship. Never before have we been prompted to question the relationship between artifacts, art, industry, and artificial intelligence; we know the role of artisanal making in the creative and precision industries, but now we see it primarily as a capital of soft power, especially in an era of great transformations and anxieties. The Foundation is increasingly engaged in the connection between the natural, artificial, artifact, industrial, and digital.»
ES DEVLIN, THE POWER OF LIGHT
Es Devlin, artistic director of the 2026 edition, has often woven collaborations with the best artisans throughout her thirty-year career, developing a deep respect for the crafts. For Homo Faber 2026: An Island of Light she has developed a concept that enhances the skills and talents of selected masters and craft artists from around the world. To highlight their creations, Es Devlin has enveloped them in light, a primordial force at the center of the British artist’s works and an essential element for our very existence.
The enhancement of human talent through the highlighting (both real and metaphorical) of artisanal and creative work is perfectly aligned with the mission of the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, a non-profit organization based in Geneva that has launched and implemented the cultural movement of Homo Faber to promote craftsmanship and creativity on a global scale, celebrating the protagonists and increasing their visibility.
Inspired by the artistic and cultural heritage of Venice, Es Devlin has conceived a narrative for the island of San Giorgio Maggiore that brings together the work of hundreds of creatives from dozens of countries, each of which is an island of excellence in the archipelago of handmade beauty. Their works, identified and selected by the Michelangelo Foundation, find their place in a series of immersive installations set up in the spaces that make up the monumental complex of the Giorgio Cini Foundation. Through the interaction of light, water, reflective surfaces, and other scenic effects, Es Devlin will guide us into a cosmos made up of the creators themselves, their ateliers, and the tools and materials with which they create their works. The setups and installations that make up the grand fresco of Homo Faber 2026 explore the relationship between light, matter, talent, and creativity, revealing how true masters always know how to channel this vital energy to create extraordinary objects that inspire admiration and bring joy.
A JOURNEY LIT BY TALENT
The narrative begins the moment visitors arrive on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Away from the hustle and bustle of the busiest places in Venice, they are welcomed into the tranquility of the first exhibition space, A Language of Hands, which recreates the working environment of a craft workshop. The projection of a multimedia composition will allow the audience to immerse themselves in a creative dimension filled with sounds and atmospheres.
From the workshop, we move to An Index of Artisans, a bright gallery of black and white portraits depicting the hundreds of men and women who created the objects on display. A way to “get to know them” but also a statement of intent: everything that can be admired at Homo Faber 2026 was born from the union of hearts, hands, and minds.
This space leads to An Alphabet of Objects, where an imposing moving cylindrical structure projects the silhouettes of over 100 high-quality works onto the surfaces of the room, thanks to a captivating light effect. An evanescent sculpture like the light and shadows that compose it, evoking an ideographic and imaginative language. The objects that animate this space have been chosen for their surprising shapes, for the tones that recall earthy hues, and for the way they interact with light, in a play that evokes ancient hieroglyphs, Chinese pictograms, and ancestral representations.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF MATTER AS A PRIMORDIAL ELEMENT
Stepping out of the shadows, in the glow of the air of Venice, we are welcomed by A Library of Lungs: a series of curved sculptures, crafted by a master woodworker, inspired by the iconic paper structures designed by Es Devlin. Just like the gardens of San Giorgio Maggiore, the green lung of Venice, the installation itself seems to almost breathe and whisper a silent narrative to visitors. A fascinating concept and recurring theme in An Island of Light, which links craftsmanship to the biosphere, highlighting the connection between art craftsmanship and the four elements that bring its works to life: water, earth, air, and, above all, the radiant energy of the sun.
The same theme is echoed in the two subsequent spaces. The first, A Full Moon Rising, is located inside the former Gandini swimming pool, built in the 1960s. The scenic installation highlights the essential beauty of the vessels that have been used for millennia for the storage and transport of water, among which the traditional Korean moon jars with their iconic spherical shape stand out. At the center of the large basin, a semicircular structure gathers a selection of moon jars and vases inspired by them, handcrafted by international artists in all the colors of water. The light, illuminating the structure and creating a shimmer on the surface of the basin, transforms the composition into a great moon that, rising from a metaphorical sea, gives life to a dialogue between water and light, a source of inspiration for artisans and artists.
A Rooted Ascent, immediately after, pays homage to the organic materials generated by sunlight that radiates the earth’s soil. A multi-level cork structure divides the space into two: on one side are objects made from different types of wood, while on the other are those crafted by weaving natural materials such as willow, osier, and rush. The audience can discover the versatility and poetry of these natural materials by interacting with wood artists and basket weavers who work live in the room.
In the next stage, An Atelier Alive, the participatory dimension explodes into a true workshop where masters of ceramics, glass, metal, textiles, and many other disciplines share their knowledge, techniques, and creative processes with visitors. Dozens of masterpieces made from an extraordinary variety of materials contrast with the gestures of the masters. By placing the artisans themselves at the center of the experience, Homo Faber 2026 aims to bring the general public closer to the art of making and to encourage new generations of craftsmen, as well as to offer professionals from various trades the opportunity to engage and create new connections.
THE CITY AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
The architectural features of Venice, which has hosted the Homo Faber Biennial since 2018, inspired the setup of An Infinite Birdsong. Here, Es Devlin recreates the nighttime atmosphere of the lagoon city using a system of shaped and backlit mirrors. Along the perimeter of the room, birds and insects made by hand from porcelain, metal, glass, paper, and a variety of other materials peek through the Venetian-style polifore windows. In the display cases at the center of the room, magnificent jewelry resembling birds and insects is showcased, crafted by independent goldsmiths as well as master artisans from the most prestigious maisons. This sparkling aviary in the heart of Venice is a striking tribute to the winged creatures that, to survive, depend on another element of the art of nature, the air.
The structural composition of the ancient monastery is the inspiration for A Great Turning, in which Es Devlin uses light, water, and mirrors to overturn the geometry of the Palladian cloister. A water basin along the central path reflects the arches of the portico, while at the heart of the space is placed a large kinetic mirror that interacts with the variations of light throughout the day, creating an atmosphere in constant transformation.
In the Ambulacro of the Palladian Refectory, the work A Luminous Ark is displayed, consisting of paper sculptures representing the native species of Venetian fauna designed by Es Devlin. Created by the Chinese master Wen Qiuwen (whose involvement was made possible thanks to the support of the Hantang Culture group), kestrels, herons, egrets, and other birds are suspended and illuminated like lanterns, in homage to Venice and the delicate translucence of paper. In the area in front of the two Palladian fountains, after a first flight of stairs, a participatory workshop takes place, where visitors can learn the art of origami.
A 360-DEGREE VIEW
The tribute to the transformative power of light continues in the Palladian Refectory, where A Feast of Light takes center stage. The majestic hall is traversed by a vertical beam of light, like a sunbeam filtering through a crack in the back wall. The light animates a suggestive play with a collection of objects made of porcelain, glass, fabric, paper, and many other materials (all strictly white) arranged on the reflective surface of a huge luminous table, creating an effect of purity. In the background, a wall separates the installation from the reproduction of The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese, giving visitors the opportunity to contemplate this artwork in tranquility.
From the purity of white light, we move to the thousand shades of the color spectrum in A Rainbow of Forms. Objects made of plastic, enamel, resin, glass, and other materials find their place on reflective shelves and rotating supports, under a wide ceiling covered in mirrors that intensifies the kaleidoscopic effect. The installation is enriched by a precious carpet, inspired by Goethe’s Theory of Colors. Together, these two environments reveal how light is a tool that the artisan can use to manipulate materials and create objects that evoke beauty.
Before reaching the Labyrinth of Borges, which concludes the journey, one passes through the Cloister of the Cypresses, once a place of prayer and study for the Benedictine monks who lived in the ancient monastic complex and gathered for prayer at the call of the bells of the Basilica of San Giorgio. This history inspired the choral work Twenty Silent Songs: a series of 20 rectangular panels, each framing a corresponding circular panel decorated with motifs related to the sound waves emitted by 20 imaginary bells, interpreted by as many master artisans and workshops from five continents. Born from a common inspiration and created through very different techniques and materials, these works seem to reverberate an archetypal and synesthetic geometric structure.
A TAILORED EXPERIENCE
The exhibition spaces will be animated by the Young Ambassadors of Homo Faber: 90 young people from the best design and applied arts schools around the world, tasked with making the experience even more engaging for the audience.
Homo Faber 2026 also offers participatory workshops presented by Mazda and personalized gastronomic experiences. An opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves even more in the world of craftsmanship and create a truly tailored experience.
The fourth edition also marks the return of Homo Faber to the City. Casa Sanlorenzo – the headquarters of Sanlorenzo Arts, overlooking the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute – will be one of the main partners of the initiative. Inaugurated in 2025 and conceived as a permanent platform for dialogue between art, design, and sustainability, Casa Sanlorenzo hosts two collateral exhibitions to Homo Faber 2026: one curated by Artemest and dedicated to the master artisans of Venice and Veneto, the other curated by De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg featuring a selection of artisans from the Central European Grand Duchy. Throughout September, it will also be possible to visit the Venetian artisan workshops presented by the Homo Faber Guide. To assist visitors in planning their day, various itinerary proposals will be available on the platform homofaber.com. Finally, on the occasion of Homo Faber 2026, a widespread program of events and exhibitions will take place in Venice, sharing values, programs, and visions with the grand event on the island of San Giorgio.
Tickets will be available starting from April 2026 on homofaber.com
