San Giorgio Maggiore Island Matteo De Fina©. Courtesy of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Words by Art Contributors
Liliya Tippetts & Nataliia Shpytkovska
The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of fifteen luxury Maisons participating in the Homo Faber Event in Venice this spring, which is organised by Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, set to take place on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore from 10 April to 1 May.
The 2022 edition highlights craft’s role in creating a more sustainable and inclusive future. World-renowned curators and designers, will curate different themed exhibitions at the magnificent spaces of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
This year's edition accommodates an extensive variety of exhibitors in a new unprecedented scope and scale. Thus the event brings together 15 exhibitions, showcasing the work of more than 350 designers and artisans from more than 30 countries. With each exhibition dedicated to a different aspect of craftsmanship, the event will feature exceptional master artisans from Europe, alongside 12 Japanese Living National Treasures – holders of the highest award in the Japanese arts.
Celebration of savoir-faire
In 2022, Homo Faber highlights the value of safeguarding craftsmanship by making these time-honoured skills economically viable and ensuring their transmission to new generations – thus promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future.
Homo Faber celebrates the savoir-faire and unique stories of talented artisans from around the globe, honouring the priceless human skill behind the creation of exquisite objects.
Atmos clock. Image Jaeger-LeCoultre
Chosen for its exceptional savoir-faire in watchmaking, Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of luxury Maisons featured in the Genealogies of Ornament exhibition, the other 14 are, Alaïa, Couture SculptureA. Lange & Söhne, engraving; Aquaflor, perfumery; Buccellati, fine silversmithing; Cartier, glyptics; Chiso, yuzen kimono; Dolce&Gabbana, Alta Sartoria – Men’s tailoring; Hermès, the “velours au sabre” technique (velvet cut); Maison Lemarié, feathers, flowers, couture sewing and pleating; Piaget, gold crafting; Serapian, Mosaico leather goods; Vacheron Constantin in partnership with The Musée du Louvre, watchmaking, gem-setting, enamelling and engraving; Van Cleef & Arpels, jewellery; and YOOX NET-A-PORTER Group and The Prince's Foundation, responsible luxury garment making.
Masterminded by Judith Clark, a renowned exhibition-creator and fashion curator, the exhibition highlights the connections between craft, the wider arts and the design world, demonstrating the transformative power of craftsmanship and revealing the lineage—or genealogy—of each craft: specific traditions handed down from generation to generation.
Running on air - the Atmos clock
Mankind has long been fascinated by the idea of perpetual motion machines – devices that work autonomously and forever, with no external source of energy
But nobody has ever succeeded in making one, for the simple reason that, according to the laws of physics, it is impossible.
An icon in the true sense, the Atmos has become recognised around the world as a symbol of Swiss craftsmanship and ingenuity.
However, Jaeger-LeCoultre is able to produce a device that comes closer to perpetual operation than any other mechanism.
In 1928, Reutter, a Neuchâtel-born radiological engineer, introduced a prototype clock – now known as Atmos 0 – that seemed to defy the laws of physics: with no need for batteries, electricity, or routine rewinding, it could operate for centuries without wearing out or requiring any external intervention.
The mechanical principle behind the Atmos is simple, albeit extremely difficult to execute: the energy required to drive the clock is supplied by normal, everyday fluctuations in air temperature. Thermal energy is transformed into mechanical energy, which drives the movement of the balance. The slightest temperature variation - a change of just one degree Celsius can power the clock for 48 hours.
Information, at Homofaber.com.
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