The Artisans Reviving Venice’s Crafts Scene

With the Adriatic stretching out around you, Venice's allure begins before you even step off the train – a promise of beauty that quickly clashes with the thronging crowds awaiting your arrival. But this initial rush is just the surface; a deeper, more intimate Venice exists, revealed to those who venture beyond the iconic San Marco and Rialto Bridge, in neighborhoods rich with the work of its skilled artisans. 

“We need to push for generational change – not simply familial succession –  to avoid risking the loss of this heritage of craftsmanship and quality,” says Gianni Mezzalana, President of Young Entrepreneurs of Confartigianato Imprese Veneto, the local branch of  Italy’s largest association of artisans and small business owners. According to Confartigianato Imprese, there are 18,500 artisan businesses operating across the province of Venice. Of these, 2,018 are run by people under 35, representing a new generation of artisans who are keeping both the craft traditions and Venice’s identity alive. 

Michela Bortolozzi is part of this movement. “I ran away from my city, only to return because I had to. I was in Morocco when the pandemic hit, and the Italian embassy brought me back”, says Michela. She is working from her atelier on Calle Zancani, a street far from the chaos that you’ll find only if you’re eager to explore. This street used to be full of shops – what Venetians call “botteghe” – and it felt like a little village. In recent years, most windows have closed.

The trend of declining artisan shops has affected the city as a whole, but the younger generation is trying to reverse it. Many have a love-hate relationship with Venice. “After finishing my studies, I felt suffocated in this city. Airbnb was spreading, and more tourists kept coming. At the same time, artisans were disappearing”, she says. “I wanted to work with locals, but it was impossible.”

Michela decided to work around the world, following different artists, until she stopped in Morocco, where she began her first project on sustainable design. When the pandemic forced her to return, she serendipitously created a project based on “special” candles. “Like many young artisans, I didn’t have a studio. I started setting up a stand right outside my home to sell my creations,” she explains. She didn’t think it would last, expecting to return to Morocco soon.

However, Venetians embraced her art, and she finally felt understood by her city. Today, she runs Re-light Venice, an atelier filled with unique creations and many other artisan pieces. Her goal is to restore the souvenir as a true memory of the city, something that can tell a story. She calls herself a “storytelling artisan.”

Michela Bortolozzi in her atelier in Via Calle Zancani.

Roberta Giuili

“My project’s name reflects my desire to preserve a corner of authenticity in this city,” says Michela. “I want people to think about how we use Venice.” Her “special” candles, shaped like the Palazzo Ducale, challenge clients to decide whether to light and consume them or keep them as design objects. Each piece carries meaning, crafted by hand to regenerate materials, people and communities. Michela has recently been involved in a rehabilitation project for women in prison, teaching inmates the skills needed to produce candles.

Part of the wax used in Michela’s workshop comes from churches, while the candle bases are made from wood salvaged from local artisans' waste. “We aim to create a network that allows tourists to discover the diverse handcrafts Venice has to offer.” For this reason, she brings her cart to four unique workshops where wood waste is abundant.

These workshops, called “remeri,” specialize in making oars and forcole (oarlocks) for Venetian boats. Only four remeri shops remain in Venice today. One of them, called Il Forcolaio Matto, was founded by Piero Dri in 2013. When he was close to finishing his degree in Astronomy, Piero Dri felt that something was wrong: he wanted to connect with his city and its daily life.

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“For me, rowing is an alternative way to see and experience Venice. It's a low-cost means of transportation for discovering its secrets and hidden corners,” says Piero. He knows that the city is no longer centered around rowing, as it once was, and for this reason, the craft has evolved. “Forcole are also becoming objects of design that people display in their homes,” he explains, showing some of these extraordinary pieces. Furthermore, climate change has made people reflect on their methods of transportation. “Even though, people often fail to understand that handmade products take time,” affirms Piero, “especially now, when everything can be ordered with just one click and delivered the very next day.” 

Piero’s work serves the gondoliers, and thus the tourists, but also the Venetians. “The problem for locals is often the lack of time to enjoy the water: now that being a gondolier is no longer a seasonal job, I am the first to be busy year-round,” he says. “The last time we, Venetians, rediscovered rowing was during the pandemic, when we enjoyed the freedom of not being in a rush.”

Piero Dri with one of the “forcole” he made. His workshop can be found in Via Ramo dell’Oca.

Roberta Giuili

Once, when the sea around Venice was less crowded, it was possible to reach Murano by oar. Much of Venice’s craftsmanship is rooted on this small island, where many tourists come to admire the art of glassmaking. Until recently, Riccardo Toso Borella worked there with his father in their company L’Arte dei Toso Borella.

In the workshop, Riccardo learned a technique that his family has preserved for centuries: the art of “graffito,” involving the engraving of gold leaf on glass surfaces. Riccardo started practicing when he was seven years old, but after high school, he wasn’t sure about making it his profession. “I didn’t feel I was able to carry on this ancient tradition,” he admits. Over time, however, he changed his mind, and now he is opening his own shop in Venice. This is a first because, at the end of the 1200s, the Republic of Venice moved all the furnaces to Murano for both security reasons and to control production.

“I want to bring our work to Venice, to its fairs, and its international community,” Riccardo explains. He has an artistic project focused on reinterpreting pieces of ancient art with a vision for the future, all while mastering the precise and magnificent art of freehand drawing on gold.

Riccardo’s new shop is in the same Calle as Michela’s atelier, as well as Francesco Pavon’s studio. Francesco is a restorer, but he also sells ancient artifacts. “In recent years, we’ve seen a growing interest toward reusing and restoring artifacts,” he explains. He refers to his generation as the “Vinted generation” – people who are against consumerism and want to give life to objects time and again.

Francesco says he was lucky to have worked in a historic bottega after attending the School of Restoration. “You often hear that young people don’t want to get their hands dirty, but that’s not true. It’s just difficult to find someone willing to teach you these ancient crafts.” He learned during that time how important the connection between people really is. “Local residents come to me not only because of the work they need done, but also just to have a chat”, he says, as an elderly man walks into Pavon Restauri to ask something. “The truth is, if we offer citizens an alternative to the big brands, they will always choose the small artisans’ shops, whether it's a cobbler or a restorer.”

For this reason, he and Michela have already involved the neighborhood in their project. “When I rented this shop, it was completely destroyed after years of abandonment”, he explains. “Now we are trying to revitalize this street. The goal is to fill it with different kinds of artisans, just like it was in the past”.

Francesco Pavon restoring a frame in his workshop in Calle Zancani

Roberta Giuili

The uniqueness of Venice is that craft and art are deeply intertwined: the line between the two is often imperceptible. This is especially true when we talk about Venetian masks. It’s one of the traditions that most represents the city, but it is not as ancient as one might think. In fact, the Carnival was revived in the 1980s. “In those years, my parents started making masks to support themselves while they were studying,” says Davide Belloni. He is in one of their shops, surrounded by hundreds of different types of masks: black and white, Arlecchino-styled, the remake of those from Eyes Wide Shut.

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What started as a hobby and a side job became a full-fledged profession for his parents, who opened an atelier called Ca 'Macana in 1986, right at the time when this art form was growing into a legitimate industry. “I was born the same year and grew up alongside the business.” Now, Davide manages the family business, which consists of a shop and two laboratories for mask production and workshops. “The company has grown, but we still focus on the quality of each piece,” explains Davide. They don’t create masks for mass production. Behind each one, there is careful thought about the materials to use, how to innovate the model, and this process often involves more than one person: Davide and his employees collaborate on different steps of the creation. Once the mask is completed, it becomes part of a new collection.

Davide Belloni in one of his family’s shops in Sestiere Dorsoduro.

Roberta Giuili

However, unlike Michela, Piero, Riccardo, and Francesco, Carnival is obviously one of the busiest times of year for Davide. “Not only because of tourists, but also because we receive orders from institutions or luxury brands,” says Davide, “and from Venetians organizing Carnival parties at home”.

He, too, left the city when he was younger. “I’ve always loved this job, but I didn’t like my city being treated like a tourist mine to exploit,” he explains. Though they come from different backgrounds and crafts, Michela, Piero, Riccardo, Francesco, and Davide are all working to fight this approach to Venice, aiming to raise awareness of the city's true essence: the Venetians and their traditions.