Arts and crafts in Venice: the state of the art

Arts and crafts in Venice draw an increasing attention. Curious visitors will find opportunities to see some excellent, if not unique creations when exploring Venice. The very interesting part of these laboratories, small as well as large companies, is their connection to past traditions for which Venice was very well known. On the one side innovation plays a main role. On the other side, the final result acquires a higher value because the artisan’s knowledge is transmitted always in junction with the history of Venice. A connection between past and present which matters.

It is not easy to be an artisan in Venice. In fact, it is true rather the opposite.

Major challenges for artisans

There are major challenges to face when you open a business based on your manual ability: high rents to pay for your laboratory, clients’ little understanding when it comes to the value of a handmade creation, but especially scarce visibility in a city like Venice where the main routes are colonized more and more by anonymous, non-authentic businesses.

And then, you need to be hugely patient to be an artisan. Not just when you create, but also, if not especially, when it comes to explaining the history behind your creation. Most of the times when I arrange my arts and crafts tours, the most frequent question the guests I accompany ask is “how long did it take you to…?”. As if growing expertise, becoming a master, attending courses to update and making something unique was connected to timing you can measure. Time for artisans is suspended, it is not a category. Creative time is precious, whether it lasts a few seconds or months of work.

Not to mention that in these years artisans are required to be good marketing managers of themselves, spending time and patience also to promote their activity via social media.

We cannot deny though there is a growing curiosity towards the world of the handmade craftsmanship. Especially in Venice. This is the most surprising fact if you think of what happened after November 2019 when first the “acqua granda” flooding and then Covid epidemic deeply affected craftsmen’s business.

While I invite you to contact me directly to arrange itineraries through Venice and its lagoon discovering the uniqueness of Venetian arts and crafts, here are two stories which will help you appreciate the state of the art in this city.

Herman H. van Doorn and his Artisans in Venice project, aka Traces of the Future, 2026

It was in June 2019 when Herman H. van Doorn sent an email to the association Best Venice Guides. Van Doorn is an artist and a photographer based in Utrecht and he introduced his project on Venetian artisans, called “Venezia quotidiana”, “everyday Venice”. At that time I happened to be the president of the association. We then met and had a lovely conversation with Herman at the Correr Museum with my colleague and friend Giovanna Gradella. Who would think the project would continue for seven years?

It was particularly moving to see the outcome of his research, finally published last month.

The book, in Italian, English and Dutch, is entitled “Venezia, Traces of the future” printed by Wilco art books, Amersfoort. Van Doorn is driven by a profound love for Venice which you can see in his photos. More than 160 photos show the great relationship van Doorn has entertained with these artisans working in Venice and its lagoon islands.

Herman H. van Doorn’s photos of the arts and crafts in Venice

Van Doorn chose not to take photos of what the artisans make, but portrayed the artisans in their space, sometimes just the space and the tools. Sometimes in order to understand what is the specialty of one artisan or the other, you need to read the caption. This gallery of portraits sometimes discloses smiles, sometimes serious faces, humble, entertained, proud eyes. Artisans are portrayed while engaged in doing something or simply being there, in their creative spaces. It is not a window case. His photos capture the person as a working person.

There is a map, too, which shows that Venice is an artisan district, pretty balanced.

Beware that some of these artisans in the meantime are no longer here. Moreover, the list is not exhaustive. More have arrived. A lot of them changed location, too. Mobility caused by the search of better places or because they could not afford the rent.

Uni.S.Ve., a multifunctional restoration laboratory in Venice since 2001

In 2001 under the guidance of the stucco sculptor master Mario Fogliata, a group of artisans founded Uni.S.Ve., i.e., the Union of Stucco Workers in Venice. In these last 25 years Uni.S.Ve. has grown into a very important institution when it comes to arts and crafts in Venice, now gathering around 50 artisans, with different specializations, and constantly working with 15 more independent craftsmen.

You will have likely heard of them when investigating who would support international organizations financing some restoration work in Venice such as Save Venice.

For instance, the two oil paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto at the church of San Giorgio Maggiore were taken down from the transept walls to be restored by Caterina Barnaba: Uni.S.Ve., dismantled the frame, transferred the paintings to the sacristy, rolling them as a rug. Or if you check an old post of mine regarding the staircase by Mauro Codussi in the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista, again it is their team who took care of such an architecture unique jewel: https://www.seevenice.it/en/the-revolutionary-staircase-at-the-scuola-grande-san-giovanni-evangelista-in-venice/

You can read more about their work here: https://unisve.it/ and here: https://unisve.it/en/references

A conversation with Guido Jaccarino at Uni.S.Ve.

I had a lovely conversation with the architect Guido Jaccarino, the leading soul at Uni.S.Ve., Jaccarino after graduating in architecture started working as a mason to learn in the field of construction and restoration of ancient buildings in Venice and its surrounding area. He joined Uni.S.Ve., a few years after its foundation as a stucco sculptor. Also getting involved in the accounting management, he developed a very interesting approach regarding arts and crafts in Venice.

Here it is: single, individual artisans can join their forces, ideas and experience. A group is stronger than the single craftsman. It can help against exploitation, it can provide artisans with more serenity and free time. A group helps share knowledge so that you can learn different techniques and work at different projects if necessary. A group allows for a generation to generation-based transmission of knowledge, from the elderly to the younger.

At Uni.S.Ve. you can attend courses to learn about frescoes, stucco, pigment preparation, gilding, masonry, wood carving, mirrors, restoring ancient art or furniture and much more.

In other words, Uni.S.Ve. has cultivated the idea that a network of craftsmen is what both Venice and artisans reciprocally need. Artisans need to know about the history of Venice to take care of this incredible city, one of the most hand-crafted cities ever, and Venice needs these hands and brains so to keep her history alive.

More advice to enjoy arts and crafts in Venice

I see a positive aspect in this story, don’t you? By the way, next September you can come and enjoy Homo Faber, the international exhibit on Arts and Crafts. Moreover, until October you can enjoy the newly opened exhibit “The only true protest is beauty” at Palazzo Pisani Moretta now property of Foundation Dries Van Noten all focused on the excellence of the handmade. At their bookstore, you will also find van Doorn’s book.

Both are great occasions which Venice offers to get back to the arts and crafts at their core.

by Luisella Romeo
registered tourist guide in Venice, Italy
www.seevenice.it

On the cover: A mirror at Giorgio Forcellini Merlo Hall at Uni.S.Ve laboratory in Dorsoduro, Venice