When Hanneli Rupert was a little girl, her mother bought a handcrafted wooden Noah’s Ark at a fair in the UK. It had been crafted by English wood artisan David Plagerson who has been crafting wooden arks for more than four decades and continues to have a cult following amongst those who treasure his precious and nostalgic handmade creations. Many years later, Hanneli commissioned David to make her own bespoke ark; this one was of the Cape Dutch house she grew up in, along with two of every African creature. It’s now one of her most treasured pieces in her own collection of handcrafted works. It’s in the stories behind the making of an object that the true value of craftsmanship comes alive, says Hanneli, Vice Chair of the Michelangelo Foundation, which founded the concept of Homo Faber taking place in Venice this month.
She has always championed the value of true craftsmanship in her own career. First came her handbag label Okapi, which features luxurious, artisanal leather goods and accessories entirely handmade in Africa from sustainably sourced local materials. She then started Merchants on Long, a treasure trove of African design with a branch in Cape Town and in London’s Burlington Arcade. It therefore made sense when her father, Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert, asked her to come on board at the Michelangelo Foundation that he had started with cultural writer and authority Franco Coligni. “Having been fortunate enough to be exposed to the wonderful craftspeople and makers across the journey with Richemont, it was a real sadness for my father that a lot of these craftsmen were shutting down their studios and that their craft was dying out.
The Michelangelo Foundation and Homo Faber were created to help support those artisans to continue their generations of craft. Homo Faber is giving longevity to craftsmanship and guaranteeing these remarkable people a future.” This year sees the third showcase of some of the world’s most talented craftsmen at the Homo Faber exhibition. Hanneli has worked with art director Luca Guadagnino and architect Nicolò Rosmarini to create an event that celebrates skilled artisans from around the world. The theme “The Journey of Life” will take visitors on a voyage through a human life, exploring standout moments and everyday simplicities through the lens of craftsmanship. There will be more than 800 objects from 400 different artisans, with about 40 of these craftsmen working on site.
But Homo Faber is much more than an event. Through its global craft guide or travel companion, downloadable as a phone app, anyone can access a guide to hundreds of craftspeople around the world. The Homo Faber Guide is intended to offer another dimension to international travel, where the user can identify craftsmen and studios all over the world to visit while in a foreign country. “The foremost vision for Homo Faber’s existence is to support artisans and to help them keep working. And the best way to do that is to get them customers and bring them to the market. So, our guide is there to help individuals who are interested in craft to find talented craftsmen wherever they are in the world. Some people may not be able to physically go to the studios, but they can go through the guide and learn and find them.”
Homo Faber also facilitates a fellowship programme that pairs young (or “young” in their careers) artisans with master craftspeople, in order to help preserve the craft and the passing on of rare skills. Hanneli says she’s been personally inspired by the work she’s done in Africa with craftsmen and women. “There is so much to learn about a region through its crafts.” She firmly believes that an appreciation of craft is going to gain momentum as societies continue to reject a “throw away culture”. “People want to buy something that has meaning and will last – and craft very much fits into that category. There’s also a lot of upcycling that happens in the craft community and I’m not surprised. It’s a global consciousness that people are thinking about what they are buying and how they live,” she says.
Hanneli adds that there is a huge focus on functional craft at this year’s exhibition – an aspect of craft for which she has great appreciation. Favourites in her personal collection are a set of handcrafted wooden speakers created by the Opere Sonore studio in the Fiemme Valley in northern Italy, which deliver a unique sound. “I bought them for my husband who loves classical music. It is the ultimate example of remarkable, bespoke craft and something you are proud to have.” Homo Faber also focuses on usable objects, and Hanneli is particularly inspired by handcrafted kitchen utensils such as pans, knives and serveware. “I have swapped all my non-stick pans for hand-welded pans from the Homo Faber makers. You don’t have to use something ugly,” she quips. Craft will also never go out of fashion, as Hanneli adds that the joyous nature of craft gives it timeless appeal. “What is rare and what people really enjoy at Homo Faber is to see a showcase of incredibly talented people and how they choose to use their time, and what they make with their hands – with very little agenda. Craft is very joyous in its simplicity.”
