In Venice, the Homo Faber 2026 biennial celebrates fine craftsmanship by transforming leather into a powerful and multifaceted visual language. Moving beyond its traditional decorative or utilitarian function, leather becomes sculpture, a canvas for painting, sculptural architecture, cultural memory and a theatre of shadows. Through the talent of renowned masters and promising young international artists, the exhibition also highlights an extraordinary synthesis of craftsmanship and contemporary vision, offering a journey in which every fold tells stories of nature, roots and continuous visual exploration. Let’s discover them together.
Leather becomes sculpture
A connection with place and memory shapes works of powerful expressive force. From Thailand, Thyme Neelaphanakul transforms leather into intricate botanical forms inspired by devotional art, while in India Kanday Anjanappa carries on a centuries-old tradition, working with discarded goatskin to create translucent puppets that bring ancient epic poems to life. In South Africa, Abongile Sidzumo uses offcuts to create paintings and landscapes that tell stories of community life and migration, symbolised by the leather bag. From England, meanwhile, the duo Natalie Thakur and Neale Marriott combine the delicacy of leather inlay and shaping with fine-art painting, drawing on childhood memories and historical influences to give voice to the material itself.
Contemporary evolutions
Sometimes it is innovation that reshapes leather — and materials — and at other times it is tradition. French designer Sofia Shazak, for example, moves from Schiaparelli haute couture to the ancient shallang weaving technique, combined with ethical leathers such as salmon leather. In the Netherlands, meanwhile, Elaine Chan-Perryman hand-shapes vessels from Italian vegetable-tanned leather, transforming the emotional impact of an old horse harness into unique works of exceptional craftsmanship. In short, the most boundless of materials for the most boundless of worlds.
Photo from the Homo Faber website
