Following its successful collaboration with the Michelangelo Foundation at the Homo Faber Biennial in 2024 Mazda proudly announces its first-ever sponsorship of the Homo Faber Fellowship for the 2025/26 edition. Through this initiative, Mazda will support two artisan duos in a seven-month journey dedicated to preserving and revitalizing fine craftsmanship.
The Homo Faber Fellowship, developed by the Michelangelo Foundation and supported by partners including Jaeger-LeCoultre and ESSEC Business School, is a prestigious mentorship programme pairing master artisans with emerging talents from around the world.
This year, 23 artisan duos of 19 nationalities will embark on a shared experience that begins with a one-month entrepreneurial and creative masterclass — co-developed by ESSEC Business School and Passa Ao Futuro — followed by a six-month placement in the master artisans’ workshops. Each duo will co-create an original object, culminating in a public exhibition that celebrates their collaboration.
While the Fellowship launches this year in September 2025 in Seville, Spain, participating master artisans will host fellows across seven European countries, fostering cross-border exchange, craft innovation, and the transmission of artisanal knowledge to future generations.
Mazda’s involvement demonstrates its enduring commitment to craftsmanship – a belief that beauty emerges when form, function, and emotion are shaped by human hands. Honouring shared values, Mazda will sponsor two artisan duos whose work celebrates both Japanese heritage and contemporary creativity.
In Marseille, Japanese textile pleating master Harumi Sugiura will mentor Italian-Colombian fellow Marcella Giannini, who specializes in paper and textile arts, to explore the intersection of colour, material, and form through natural and innovative processes.
In London, Japanese paper sculptor Kuniko Maeda will collaborate with fellow Momoka Ienaga, a specialist in Kaga embroidery, to create unique works blending paper artistry with traditional Japanese textile design techniques.
“Like the talents brought together by the Homo Faber Fellowship, at Mazda we believe that true craftsmanship is cultivated through dedication, collaboration, and the transmission of knowledge,” says Jo Stenuit, European Design Director at Mazda. Adding, “This reflects our design philosophy — rooted in Japanese artistry — which fuses generations of expertise with a spirit of innovation and creativity to shape meaningful, human-centered experiences. I’m looking forward to a deeper collaboration with the Michelangelo Foundation and especially with the selected craftspeople.”.
A Continued Celebration of Craft
This initiative deepens Mazda’s precious partnership with the Michelangelo Foundation, following the brand’s immersive presence at Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life in Venice. There, Mazda invited visitors to become artisans themselves through hands-on experiences and storytelling exhibitions.
The 2025 Homo Faber Fellowship will culminate with an exhibition where all 23 duos will showcase their collaborative works under the theme “Today’s Masters Meet Tomorrow’s Talents.” Building on the success of the second edition, held during Milan Design Week in April 2025 and attended by 23,522 visitors, this event will not only mark the conclusion of a transformative journey but also celebrate the enduring bond between tradition, innovation, and human touch that defines Mazda’s philosophy.
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NOTES TO EDITOR
The Homo Faber Fellowship is a 7-month sponsored professional integration programme designed for duos of master artisans and craft graduates, proposed by Homo Faber NextGen. The third edition begins for the fellows in September 2025 with a one-month creative and entrepreneurial masterclass taught by ESSEC Business School and Passa Ao Futuro. The participating fellows will then spend six months in the workshops of their paired master artisans across Europe. During these months spent in the workshop together, the 23 duos will be challenged to design and handcraft a co-creation inspired by a theme chosen by the programme’s supporting partner Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Fellowship is developed in partnership with local members of the Foundation’s network.
The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is a non-profit institution based in Geneva, which champions contemporary craftspeople worldwide with the aim of promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future. The Foundation seeks to highlight the connections between craft and the wider arts and the design world. Its mission is to both celebrate and preserve craftsmanship and its diversity of makers, materials and techniques, by increasing craft’s everyday recognition and its viability as a professional path for the next generations. The Foundation presents Homo Faber, a cultural movement centred on creative artisans worldwide. Its signature projects are education programmes for the next generations, an international biennial celebration and an online guide. https://www.michelangelofoundation.org/
