Homo Faber Biennial: Venice, Italy

September 1 - 30, 2026

Onishi Gallery at The fourth edition of Homo Faber Biennial

Featuring Onihira Keiji (lacquer), Rusu Aki (metal), Konno Tomoko (ceramic), and Kaneshige Kosuke (ceramic).

Homo Faber is curated by Michelangelo Foundation, which was established by Johann Rupert and Franco Cologni, guided by the belief that human hands will always possess the unique ability to create meaningful objects. The artistic director for Homo Faber 2026 is Es Devlin, acclaimed British artist and designer. The exhibition takes place in the historic grounds and buildings of Fondazione Giorgio Cini of Venice in Italy.
"In Japanese, "Hiya" captures a moment of divine beauty—the beams of sunlight breaking through clouds, casting their radiant fingers upon the earth. Known as crepuscular rays, or “Angel’s Ladder,” this ethereal phenomenon inspires the design of the box."

- Onihira Keiji

Box with Design in Raised Maki-e “Angel’s Ladder,” 2022

Dry lacquer and wood (base), South Sea abalone shell,

white-lipped pearl oyster, gold, white gold, silver, and pigment

8 ¼ × 10 ½ × 6 in (20.7× 26.8× 15.3 cm)

selected for homo faber 2026
Rusu Aki shapes iron through her own relationship with the material, rust, and welding. By making full use of various methods, including the technique of stacking small iron chips one by one and roasting them, Rusu has created a spatial axis with a compelling form that takes advantage of the time consuming process of rusting and decay.

crawling qualia, 2025

stacked, welded, and roasted iron

9 ¾ × 8 ½ × 5 ¼ in (24.5 × 21.5 × 13.3 cm)

selected for homo faber 2026
For more than a decade Konno Tomoko has made organic, otherworldly forms out of myriad components of marbleized, multicolored porcelain clay, worked by hand into masses of slender, tightly packed follicles, using a traditional Japanese ceramic technique neriomi.

Protect, 2013

Stoneware with nerikomi

13 ½ × 26 × 13 ½ in (34 × 66 × 34 cm)
Kaneshige Kosuke carries on the traditional methods of Bizen ware, including preparing clay by hand through levigation (suibiki), wheel-throwing, and firing in a climbing kiln (noborigama). At the same time, the artist has pursued not only traditional forms such as tea utensils, flower vessels, and tableware, but also original, innovative, and artistic sculptural works.

“From The Sea,” 2018

Ceramic

15 ½ × 14 ¼ × 13 in (39.5 × 36.4 × 33 cm)

selected for homo faber 2026