Crafting Futures

Can innovation be reconciled with the core values of traditional practices and their heritage? Is it per definition a radical breach with tradition, or can it also be a way to refresh it and resume? On this evening, we bring two short films by Unfold and Alexandre Humbert together, each addressing the relationship between past and future in their own way.

In A COMBMAKER’S TALE (2020, Alexandre Humbert), we meet Antun Penezić, the last comb maker of Croatia. At 82, he’s nearing his retirement, without a successor in sight. On that turning point, he is accompanied by Franka, a robot which is trying to learn as much as possible from him. Their unusual interaction brings together two worlds, and creates an intriguing encounter between man and machine. While Antun’s story is rooted in a real, traditional practice, Franka introduces a speculative layer, making the story slightly absurd and sharp at the same time.

APAGADA (2024, Alexandre Humbert) starts from a different turning point. After the fire at the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro, designers, researchers and craftsmen, work together to recreate destroyed artifacts. Traditional, ceramic techniques are confronted with new technologies which make something new possible, and raise questions about the broader meaning of cultural heritage. The recreation of the objects not only brings back tangible forms, but also the stories and world views connected to it.

Preceding these films, we screen YARIGAI (2023) by Sembo Roeterink and Mika Leeflang. This documentary portrays three practitioners of crafts that are threatened to disappear, and focuses on the satisfaction and meaning embedded in their work. With that, the film is a fitting build-up to the main films, in which innovation is approached from practices which are looking for their place and meaning in a changing world.

This screening is part of ‘Gemaakt’ by Crafting Futures, a film series highlighting crafts and the value of making.