The legacy of craftsmanship and the taste for Innovation: the Homo Faber Fellowship program recruits tomorrow's artisans

7.2.2024

Homo Faber Fellowship aims to make craft professions culturally, economically, and socially relevant for future generations and to bridge the gap between today's masters and tomorrow's artisans to ensure the future of craftsmanship and their know-how.

Julien Vermeulen and Matéo Laurent are feather artisans. They are among the last craftsmen in France who still master the art of realizing exceptional creations with feathers. Together, they participated as mentor and apprentice in Homo Faber Fellowship, the program created by the Michelangelo Foundation in collaboration with ESSEC Custom Programs and supported by the Maison horlogère Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Featherworking is an ancient craft whose origins date back to 15th century Italy. Feather artisans transform feathers into a myriad of objects, ranging from large installations to the most surprising small objects, such as the 20-square-meter wall for the Palais de Tokyo in Paris or the micro-marqueteries in Bulgari watch dials created by Julien Vermeulen, founder of Maison Vermeulen. Yet, this profession almost disappeared.

"A hundred years ago, there were 7,500 feather artisans in France," explains Julien, "and now there is only one school left in the world, the Octave Feuillet High School in Paris. Thus, our major challenges are to show that we exist, to make understand what is possible thanks to our know-how, and to transmit it."

In this profession, time is very costly and represents the majority of the price.

"The advantage with Homo Faber Fellowship is that they finance the apprentice's salary. Thus, we took the time to spend days on certain stages that require a lot of repetitions to teach Mateo the finesse and precision of the gesture."

The Homo Faber Fellowship program allowed Matéo Laurent to get closer to an otherwise difficult profession to undertake and to consolidate the skills acquired during his design studies. The Michelangelo Foundation provided him with the means to finance his apprenticeship and to work intensely on the creation process for six months.

Homo Faber Fellowship allowed him to have this support and to acquire legitimacy for this profession.

The teachings of ESSEC, delivered during a one-month creative and entrepreneurial masterclass in the studio of contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos in Lisbon, gave him the basics to design his object taking into account budgets, constraints, pricing, and positioning.

"The masterclass with Simon Nyeck, marketing professor and expert in exceptional know-how management at ESSEC, opened my eyes to the issues surrounding authenticity: how to create an object that reflects both the artisan's work, which is concrete and not just a fantasy."

To young artisans who will participate in the Homo Faber Fellowship program, Matéo and Julien offer their advice:

"Be open to the various facets of the craft profession: structural issues, administrative tasks, knowing how to respond to a market, design issues, etc." says Matéo. "You really have to seize every learning opportunity offered by Homo Faber and take advantage of the exchange with artisans from around the world."

Julien recommends taking the time to reflect on one's true market and develop one's own brand, independently of the competition.

Through the Homo Faber Fellowship program, the Michelangelo Foundation offers a unique opportunity for emerging artisans to learn from the most experienced master artisans and to create a bridge between tradition and innovation.

If you are ready to challenge conventions and bring your creative visions to life, Homo Faber Fellowship could be the next step in your career.

To learn more about the program, watch the testimony of Mateo and Julien 

To apply for the next edition of Homo Faber Fellowship, click here

 

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