The language of the hands and the art of making take centre stage once again in Venice with Homo Faber 2026, the fourth edition of the biennial organised by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, this year titled ‘An Island of Light’. The vast and international celebration of fine craftsmanship has just opened (read our full Homo Faber 2026 review) and, until 30 September, takes over the space of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
Behind the scenes of Giorgetti at Homo Faber 2026
Among the new presences this year, orchestrated by the 2026 edition’s artistic director (and current Wallpaper* guest editor) Es Devlin, is Giorgetti, as the Italian furniture brand’s creative director Giancarlo Bosio explains. ‘For a company like Giorgetti, which for 128 years has built its identity around the dialogue between design, materials and craftsmanship, the desire to become part of it came naturally’, says Bosio. ‘Our conversations with the Michelangelo Foundation began shortly before the summer, when the curatorial concept for the 2026 edition had already been defined. It was our encounter with Es Devlin that opened up a new possibility.’ It was a certain affinity with her own design vision that led Devlin to incorporate the brand into an exhibition narrative that was already well established, Bosio explains.
The choice fell on a series of Giorgetti’s ‘Summa’ poufs, deliberately designed without backrests, which could sit harmoniously within the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Palladian Refectory. ‘Their apparent simplicity allows the quality of the detailing and the high level of craftsmanship behind them to emerge with particular clarity,’ explains Bosio. ‘Despite the short timeframe, the collaboration developed very naturally because it grew out of a genuine dialogue. It was never simply a matter of displaying a product, but rather of understanding how Giorgetti’s design language could become an integral part of the curatorial narrative conceived by Es Devlin.’
Giorgetti creative director Giancarlo Bosio
The resulting, evocative installation within the refectory, titled A Feast of Light – one of 15 conceived by Devlin for the event – celebrates the purity of white. ‘It is a space that naturally invites contemplation and creates a dialogue between architecture, art and human presence. I believe Es Devlin saw precisely this quality as the ideal context in which our contribution could find its most authentic meaning,’ says Bosio. ‘Our role was not to add a scenographic element, but rather to contribute to the experience visitors have within the space. I like to think that this is exactly what the project expresses: a moment in which design steps away from the foreground and instead chooses to enter into a relationship with the artwork, the architecture and the people experiencing them.’
In this sense, ‘Summa’ – which appears as a cylindrical pouf, sliced into separate vertical sections and recomposed in elements upholstered in contrasting fabrics and leathers – stems from an exploration of geometry and the way form is constructed through material, leaving the piece open to interpretation. ‘At first glance, it appears extremely essential, yet it embodies considerable technical complexity and a highly tailored approach to craftsmanship,’ says Bosio. It was precisely this versatility, he adds, that allowed Devlin to reinterpret the design while remaining entirely true to its identity. ‘Rather than adapting “Summa” to the installation, we allowed the installation itself to reveal a different expressive dimension of the piece.’
Paradoxically, the challenge of this project was one of reduction. ‘“Summa” was conceived as a design that celebrates the relationship between different materials and colours. For A Feast of Light, however, we chose to remove colour entirely and allow the materials themselves to carry all the expressive weight.’ Devlin selected two fabrics and one leather, all united by the same shade of white. In this way, Bosio continues, the piece no longer relies on chromatic contrast, but instead comes to life through the depth of its surfaces, the tactile qualities of the materials and the countless nuances revealed by the light.
‘It was a particularly interesting experience because it reminded us just how much narrative richness material can hold, even when it appears visually uniform.’ In this reinterpretation for Homo Faber, colour dissolves, leaving the materiality of the surfaces to take centre stage. ‘My first impression was that I could immediately recognise “Summa” and, at the same time, see it almost disappear. It steps away from being an object to be observed and becomes instead an element that helps shape the experience, actively becoming part of it.’
Ultimately, Giorgetti’s presence in this platform has a broader significance. ‘For us, Homo Faber is not an isolated occasion, but the beginning of a broader journey,’ concludes Bosio. ‘We believe that today a brand like Giorgetti should also engage with contexts where design intersects with art, architecture and contemporary culture. Not in order to seek out new languages, but to continue expressing our own through different perspectives.’
Homo Faber 2026 runs until 30 September 2026.
For more on Es Devlin read her Wallpaper* guest-editor interview and studio tour.
For our full Homo Faber review, read: Es Devlin casts Homo Faber 2026 in a new light