There is a reason why we comfort each other with an embrace, with an arm around the shoulder or a stroke of the cheek. Nothing can replace a caress; no act can substitute for the feeling of a physical touch. The past several years have seen human connection move more and more towards virtual communication, screens standing in for physical contact, our five senses reduced to two. With more knowledge and resources available to us than ever before in the history of the world, many of us are floundering, lacking nourishment of the soul that can only be provided by the humanity we so crave. While so much focus is put on optimizing our lives with technology and regimens, our primal need for touch is awakening. This is why the handmade arts are more important now than ever.

The evidence of the maker’s hand is more than seen, it is felt. This was certainly the case at Homo Faber, the biennial show that takes place throughout September in Venice. To be surrounded by that quantity of objects, each crafted with the highest skill, was admittedly overwhelming at times. Centuries of experience and countless hours of artisans’ lives were visible in a display that was humbling and inspiring all at once. Pausing to step back, though, one felt an energy that was unmistakable, its power tangible. A multicolored screen, as luminous as stained glass, fabricated from the skins of eggplants. Porcelain and glass refined to impossible precision. The most natural to the most fantastical, and everything in between, sharing one thing in common: whether woven, carved, bent, or smoothed, every single object was shaped by hand.

There is a transfer of energy from the touch of the artist to the objects they create. The conversation between a maker’s hands and the resistance or suppleness of their material of choice infuses their work with a human presence difficult to fake. Mariano Fortuny understood this challenge, believing the most difficult path was often the only one that would lead him to the beauty he was seeking. We yearn for touch, for a return to our hands. Our hands are where we turn when lost in confusion or despair; when nothing else makes sense, they remind us of what is real.

September Playlist

Give this one the time it deserves and I promise you will come out the other side a changed person. Every song is a practical master class, and every performance is a work of art, at the highest level of craft. The purity of these voices, each one channeling the angels in their own singular way, can bring you to tears, a truth felt as it is heard. Human, soulful, and achingly beautiful, these songs are overflowing with sincerity and yearning. Like cosmic conduits, these artists commune with our shared heritage to perfectly express what it means to be human and to be alive on this earth. There is calm in the storm here. What a power to feel so deeply and to make others feel so connected to their humanity. What a gift to live in an age that has such a wealth of music and arts to accompany us.