Discover the 106 events for National Made in Italy Day: here are the Open Ateliers bringing the city to life from April 15 to 17
Paper and flower workshops, ceramic and bead workshops, meetings with artists and fashion presentations, cocktails, and children’s workshops in artisan boutiques and artist studios: from April 15 to 17, Atelier Aperti returns, the Venezia da Vivere project that gives shape to National Made in Italy Day. This second edition involves over 90 events over three days in artist studios, galleries, flower shops, venues, and artisan workshops—spaces active year-round that, for this occasion, tell their stories through new languages and workshops for everyone.
The theme chosen by the organizers, Venezia da Vivere, for 2025 is Artisanal Intelligence, which opens reflections on know-how and innovation, with the entire Venetian creative community—made up of talents, entrepreneurs, designers, and artists—as the protagonist. Venezia da Vivere, an events and communication agency dedicated to promoting the creative city, and Lightbox, a contemporary art agency and publisher of My Art Guides, are launching a project to support the talents operating in the city through a mapping of all entities, while also exploring the opportunities offered by technological innovations.
This and the role of creative intelligence—whether human or artificial—in the professions of the future will be discussed on Wednesday, April 16 at the Bea Vita Listening Bistrot from 6 PM to 8 PM during the Artisanal Intelligence meeting, curated by Venezia da Vivere and Lightbox. Music and cocktails will follow.
Flower Workshops
A new flower shop becomes a creative space and botanical laboratory blending craftsmanship and Venetian culture, thanks to the talent of Gabriele Bisetto Trevisin, a creator of plant-based journeys that tell the story of the lagoon. La Dogaressa Flowers reopens as Officina dei Fiori in Campo Sant’Agostino, the meeting place we have all been waiting for. The Serra dei Giardini presents a demonstrative ikebana lesson, during which it will be possible to observe the workshop process up close.
Matter and Gestures
The Fornace Orsoni opens the event with a journey through the thousand colors of Venetian mosaic, featuring tours for architects and designers where every tile serves as a testament to precision and technique.
In Murano, SVO Ceramic transforms visitors into artisans for a day, offering the chance to shape clay on the potter’s wheel; in Cannaregio, Laura and Pottery offers demonstrations of ceramic processing techniques. Marisa Convento, the Impiraressa, Materialmente, Attombri, and Perlamadre share the delicacy and skill of glass and metalworking. Moulaye Niang, Muranero, blends Venetian traditions and African influences in the creation of his glass beads. At Seguso Vetri d’Arte, the long history of Murano glass is celebrated through its iconic creations.
Threads and Weaves
Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua reveals the secrets hidden within the eighteenth-century looms that produce its soprarizzo velvet, a Venetian artisanal heritage. Tabinotabi projects weaving into the future, showcasing fabrics derived from natural fibers such as seaweed, mushrooms, and nettles. The Atelier Martina Vidal takes the public to Burano to discover the ancient technique of Venetian needle lace, telling the story of a living tradition that spans time. Milliner Giuliana Longo opens her doors to share the refined art of hat making.
Herbariums and Alchemy
The Beatrice Burati Anderson gallery offers visitors a meeting with master Primo Bollani, a Venetian blacksmith and sculptor, for the finissage of the exhibition ARS IN HERBIS / An alchemical journey. The exhibition develops the alchemical theme of transformation, seen through the art of herbariums, and is dedicated to Eliseo Burati (1924-1986), researcher, pharmacist, herbalist, humanist, and alchemist.
Graphics and Fine Art Printing
Small Caps documents the entire screen-printing process, from the concept to the manually produced posters. In her atelier, Vanessa Milan explains how a chalcographic engraving is born, linking each work to the Venetian territory. At the Bottega del Tintoretto, the art of artistic typography is explored, and engravings inspired by Goya’s Capricci are presented.
Creative Paper
Paperoowl welcomes the public to the atelier in Rio Marin with a demonstration of her techniques for creating paper jewelry and home decor accessories. The Museo Diffuso della Carta e della Stampa participates in the event with guided tours and demonstrations of engraving, bookbinding, and letterpress printing techniques at three historic workshops: Itaca Art Studio on Giudecca in the beautiful Cloister of SS. Cosma e Damiano, Carteria ai Frari, and Veneziastampa in Campo Santa Maria Mater Domini. Architect and paper designer Anita Cerpelloni of Paper Project Venice offers Spring in Origami, a dedicated paper-folding workshop.
Conscious Fashion and Upcycling
Donna Carmela Santoro opens her studio-atelier on Giudecca to the public for an immersive experience of wearable and sustainable art. Ramosalso offers its “Only For You” service, transforming personal garments into unique pieces through sartorial upcycling, inviting a creative and sustainable rethink of fashion. Alessandra Micolucci reveals natural dyeing techniques and tailoring processes, while the Maranteghe combine vintage fashion and upcycling with hand-painted garments. In Castello, Patience offers demonstrations of creative upcycling, celebrating with a cocktail the recent opening of the artisan boutique of its neighbors, Spazio Vivo by Huang Xiaozhe and Michela Salvi, two artisans and jewelry designers working with glass and precious metals, while in San Vio, Orsola Mainardis presents her new collection “Sapore di mare”.
Contemporary Art and Architecture
At SPARC*, the exhibition “Potential Architecture” by Lucy+Jorge Orta explores the meeting points between architecture, contemporary art, and sustainability. The Palazzo Experimental hotel hosts “Memorie Alchemiche,” a journey through the works of artisan artists Claudio Saviola and Nicola Ghirardelli, curated by Davide Paoletti, investigating symbolisms and processes of material transformation. Lunardelli Venezia offers an atelier workshop and an exhibition blending contemporary design and tradition at Palazzo Venart.
Music and Craftsmanship
Luthier Davide Pusiol guides visitors through the delicate art of building and restoring musical instruments, demonstrating how manual skill and precision are essential to keeping a precious cultural heritage alive.
Creativity for Children
Sofia Sarria, an artist following in her family’s footsteps with papier-mâché and illustrations, has brought her workshop Atelier Volante into the future by creating beloved animal sculptures. For Atelier Aperti, she dedicates “Spring Bunnies” to the little ones—a creative workshop for children using recycled materials to bring artistic works to life, stimulating imagination and manual skills.
Culture and Community
The Associazione Sportiva Sant’Elena presents a meeting about the project that unites sport, culture, and internationality to experience Venice in an inclusive way. Venezia da Vivere and My Art Guides present the project for mapping creative entities, including the use of new technologies, at the Bea Vita Listening Bistrot, featuring a DJ set by ADEA, Aurora Basha, and Sofia Bigazzi.
Paper, glass, ceramics, fabric, wood, lace, flowers, precious metals, art, sculpture, and the community will be the protagonists, revealing the techniques and stories that drive the creative process.
“The collaboration with Venezia da Vivere was born with the intention of showing that Venice is not just a museum city, home to important exhibitions and displays, but also a city of production and creation, where many artists live and work in their studios,” says Mara Sartore, president of Lightbox. “Some of them moved to Venice to study at the Academy, others simply out of a choice of love for a city that is still an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Venezia da Vivere and Lightbox are collaborating to carry out a census of artist studios, creatives, and artisans, to make them known and to tell a fundamental aspect of the city’s cultural vitality.”
“With Atelier Aperti, we want to tell the story of a Venice that creates, welcomes, and looks to the future through the work of those who choose to produce with awareness,” says Laura Scarpa, curator of the event and director of Venezia da Vivere. “This project was created to bring to light the living network of artisans, artists, and designers that makes the city an open, contemporary, and international laboratory. We collaborate with institutions, such as the Ministry of Made in Italy, because we believe that the story of craftsmanship should not be limited to the object, but should start from the territory and the people. Venice is an ecosystem of creativity to be supported, promoted, and shared.”
Made in Italy Days in Venice: discover over 100 events for National Made in Italy Day and the Open Ateliers bringing the city to life.
Download the full program
Atelier Aperti. Artisanal Intelligence
The event is part of the official program of the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. It is part of the path leading to the next Venice Recraft – Fashion Week—from October 20 to 26, 2025—an event dedicated to high craftsmanship and sustainable fashion, part of the Major Events of the City of Venice.
Atelier Aperti. Artisanal Intelligence
is a project by Venezia da Vivere
From this year in collaboration with Lightbox.
From April 15 to 17, 2025
Where: Venice and islands
How to participate: free access, some ateliers are by appointment only
Official hashtag: #GiornataMadeInItaly2025
Cover photo: Bottega Tintoretto ph. Settimo Cannatella.
Other photos are by Settimo Cannatella and the ateliers.
