Lapidarium sells unique collections of high aesthetic value to complement the wearer’s individual expression. Master goldsmith Mario Nokaj, an electric engineer by vocation,  discovered his passion for creating in the family workshop, where he learned the craft. After years of practising, he finally decided to continue the tradition in 2011 by opening his own workshop and shop in the city centre of Zagreb. Mario both designs and handcrafts his own jewellery pieces by combining traditional and contemporary goldsmithing techniques, but also by collaborating with local visual artists, designers and sculptors on various collections, which results in him challenging the notion of mainstream jewellery creation.

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Hair comb made of cow horn and silver daisies made for Daisy, inspired by René Lalique's work and Art Nouveau style.

Daisy hair comb

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Link bracelet made of various links in different thicknesses to allow dynamic movement around the wrist. Each link symbolizes one family member or person connected to the wearer.

Link

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Redesign of the Maurice Dufrene Liberty style earrings from the 1900s for the purpose of an Art Nouveau exhibition in Croatia. They were commissioned by the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb.

Flower earrings

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A massive looking, planet-like hollow sphere that is on the contrary light and wearable. Upon purchase, it is inscribed with a symbol of the wearer's astrological planet.

Planet ring

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The Voronoi brooch is paved with diamonds and combines a contemporary form with classical techniques. The Leaf ring is made of a single element using the anticlastic silversmith technique.

Voronoi brooch and Leaf ring

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Oaza Art Organisation was established in 2014 in Zagreb by a group of six freelance artists active in the field of design. The organisation runs large-scale project initiatives that involve visual communications design, design research, curatorial design concepts, product and service design, as well as set design. They collaborate with many creatives to realise projects working with cross-disciplinary teams. Past projects include the Ilica Project and the S ruke na ruku (Handed down). As part of their projects, they participate in regular exhibitions in Zagreb and at international fairs and events, including the Biennale di Venezia and Design Basel.

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Snježana Pokos-Vujec's work is always an intense creative search for new forms and new themes. In her work, she uses different techniques and production technologies and is equally successful at making large and miniature, robust as well as fragile works. After many years in the field observing the ceramics world through the eyes of an international exhibition organiser within a ceramicist association, she gradually became interested in making herself. “After learning through observing I started to express myself artistically. I chose outstanding ceramic artists - masters of design and porcelain decoration as my teachers, so I quickly overcame the most demanding techniques, including lithophany, which has become my trademark”, says Snježana.

Pokos-Vujec, Snježana

Lithophany as a trademark

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Ceramicist, painter and product designer Lidia Boševski graduated from the textile department of the School of Applied Arts in Zagreb in 1979. She then went on to study textile and fashion design. In the early 1990s, Lidia’s focus was on painting combined with batik technique, but in 2002, her focus shifted towards product design, specifically ceramics. She first made a large bowl using clay that she had mixed with wheat. Because of the humidity of clay, the wheat sprouted. “It was a wonderful moment when I realised how much clay is alive,” she says. The opening of her new design and ceramics workshop Owl in 2005 enabled Lidia to develop new creative approaches and to engage in material and design research, drawing inspiration from nature.

Boševski, Lidia

Capturing natural forms in clay

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Mia Neretljaković, originally from Split, was studying Economics and Management ten years ago in Zagreb when she decided to take another career direction and work with concrete. She immediately became fascinated by the wide application of it and its ambiguous character – industrial and refined at the same time. In 2020 she managed to dedicate herself completely to handicraft and founded her own brand Maam Concrete and workshop where together with her partner she makes both functional objects and jewellery from concrete. “I have always had an interest in architecture and design. I love simplicity, boldness and harmony, and I try to translate these principles into my work," says Mia.

Neretljaković, Mia

The many faces of concrete

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Initially founded by Renato’s grandfather, the shoemaker's workshop and store Bočak has been at the same location for more than 90 years. Situated in the heart of Zagreb, on Ilica street, Renato produces shoes that are well balanced eternal classics with a contemporary kick. In his archive, Renato holds up to 15000 measurements of people from all over the world. Besides being a craftsman from an early age, Renato is also a qualified shoe designer and an active member of the Croatian Chamber of Crafts. He has been the chairman of the board of shoemaking and orthopedic shoemaking examiners for a long time in the school and also worked within the sector council on determining the shoemaking school curriculum in Croatia.

Bočak, Renato

Shoemaking for businessmen

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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

Account and data history

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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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