Credit: HOMO FABRE
The 2026 edition of the international contemporary craftsmanship biennial, Homo Faber, is currently underway in Venice (Italy) and, as part of the satellite programme Homo Faber in Città, craft association De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg is curating a special exhibition.
Entitled “Fiat Lux” (“Let there be light”), the inaugural exhibition of De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg at the fourth edition of Homo Faber runs from Tuesday 1 to Wednesday 30 September 2026 and explores the poetic and universal theme of light. Through glass, metal, textiles, ceramics and innovative materials, the works on display reveal how light can be captured, transformed, diffused or simply suggested. De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg said that by putting exceptional practitioners in the spotlight within a setting as emblematic as Venice, it affirms the association’s role as a bridge between craftsmanship and contemporary creation, remaining true to its founding values.
The event brings together 27 artists and artisans from Luxembourg and around 60 works, with the exhibition spanning a broad spectrum of skills: blown and cast glass, ceramics and porcelain, carved alabaster, turned and marquetry wood, felt and embroidery, straw basketry, papier-mâché, macramé, and weaving and crochet. Some pieces make use of precious materials, such as 23.6-carat gold or gold leaf; others repurpose everyday materials, such as the woven plastic bottles by Charlotte Payet: all are different ways of questioning what light reveals, sublimates or recycles.
Jean-Marc Dimanche, General Curator of the De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg said: “The works we have chosen to exhibit assert the gesture as an act of resistance. Faced with automation and infinite reproducibility, they assert themselves through their singularity, their imperfections, and the slowness with which they were conceived and produced. Light is not simply a source of illumination, still less a decorative element; it puts the object into question by revealing the tensions and irregularities that give it richness, as well as the areas of shadow that preserve its mystery. It becomes a critical tool that exposes the materiality of making and makes the singular time of the gesture visible to our eyes.”
Featured Luxembourg artists
- Anne Bauler & Denise Schumann — Master seamstresses
- Doris Becker — Ceramic sculptor
- Marie-Isabelle Callier — Wax painter
- Anaïs Chappron — Ceramic artist
- Marie de Decker — Sculptor
- Tom Flick — Stone sculptor
- Megha Goenka — Ceramic artist
- Anne-Marie Grimler — Stone sculptor
- Camille Jacobs — Glass artist
- Sandy Kahlich — Milliner
- Laure Mackel — Papier-mâché sculptor
- Carine Mertes — Felt artist and designer
- Yanis Miltgen — Artistic embroiderer and art creator
- Charlotte Payet — Recycled-plastic sculptor
- Pascale Putz — Textile and basketry artist
- Nuno Quintino — Woodturner
- Sandra Resende — Textile artist
- Letizia Romanini — Straw marquetry artist
- Pascale Seil — Glass sculptor
- Stefania Staltari — Ceramic artist
- Marianne Steinmetzer — Ceramic artist
- Malou Tibor — Ceramic artist
- Olivia Topa — Papier-mâché sculptor
- Laurent Turping — Wood sculptor
- Ellen van der Woude — Ceramic artist
- Nadine Zangarini — Wood sculptor
Organised every two years by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, in partnership with the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Homo Faber has, since 2018, become the largest international celebration of craftsmanship.
About De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg
Founded in 2016 at the initiative of Their Royal Highnesses Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, the De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg Biennale takes place every two years, over seven days, at the heart of 19 Liberté in Luxembourg, under the general curatorship of Jean-Marc Dimanche. It brings together more than 100 craftspeople and hundreds of remarkable pieces, welcoming 15,000 visitors in the heart of Luxembourg, with the support of the Luxembourg Chamber of Skilled Trades and Spuerkeess.
