An inaugural collection at Campus MaNa Venezia
To mark the opening of Campus MaNa Venezia on the island of San Servolo, five rare training programs bring this new space dedicated to the arts of making to life.
Collected under the title "Guardians of Gesture," these first sessions celebrate the transmission of sensitive, precise, and demanding skills, carried out by renowned master craftsmen, artisans, and artists.
In a world where the immaterial is increasingly important, this collection raises an essential question:
What does a gesture teach us, beyond its technical mastery? How is know-how transmitted, adapted, and embodied over time?
By combining theory and practice, material and narrative, each training program becomes a precious space-time where memory, technique, and creation interact and enrich one another.
It is with immense pride and deep honor that we announce today the opening of Campus MANA Venezia, on the iconic island of San Servolo, in the heart of La Serenissima.
This new milestone marks the official launch of our Venetian entity, Campus MANA Venezia, the result of a shared vision and collaboration with Alexandre de Metz—founder of Venezia Photo, a brilliant entrepreneur, unconditional lover of photography and Venice, and a true visionary.
Alongside Alexandre and our respective teams, we dreamed up and designed a unique project, faithful to the spirit of Campus MANA as it has been embodied in France since 2023: the transmission of exceptional know-how, celebration of the hand, and excellence of the gesture.
We are thus inaugurating our first training cycle entitled "Les Gardiens du Geste," dedicated to the rare professions of renovation and the most precious artistic crafts. Through this initiative, we affirm that the MANA spirit is replicable, that its values are universal and can live beyond our borders, in places full of soul and history.
But why Venice?
Because Venice is more than a setting: it's a matrix. In our creative professions, history is ever-present. It inspires us, guides us. It all began here, during the Renaissance, in the hands of Murano master glassmakers and Italian geniuses, before blossoming in the splendor of 18th-century France, under Louis XIV. This fruitful dialogue between our two cultures gave birth to luxury—a heritage we have a duty to honor and keep alive through transmission.
Ten centuries of history inspire us to continue.
Campus MANA continues its adventure and is preparing an exceptional program for 2026: a vibrant dialogue between French and Italian craftsmanship, design, architecture, and that attention to detail, to the perfect touch, that distinguishes creators from around the world.
Get your hands ready.
Come and let yourself be carried away by the beauty of Venice, its lagoon, its canals, its light, and its mystery. Come and write your personal story in this legendary place. Campus MANA Venezia opens its doors to you.
M comme Maison, Episode of 12/19/2025 on T18
An immersion into the MaNa Campus, a creative laboratory where artisans, designers, and enthusiasts explore and reinvent the crafts through know-how, innovation, and creation.
By Pierre Jean Chauty -https://formaemagazine.com/
After Burgundy, Campus MaNa reaches a new milestone and opens to the international stage. The destination: Venice, where the institution dedicated to the transmission of exceptional craftsmanship inaugurates Campus MaNa Venezia on the island of San Servolo, in the heart of the lagoon. More than a new location, this project asserts a vision—one of rigorous pedagogy, rooted in the history of the decorative arts and resolutely forward-looking. In Venice, the hand finds its natural territory once again.
Just minutes by vaporetto from St. Mark’s Square, San Servolo unfolds across five hectares of greenery suspended between sky and water. Rare, peaceful, and deeply inspiring, this setting is now home to a campus conceived as a place of transmission and experimentation. Two 400 m² workshops, open onto the lagoon, have been specially designed for training in the decorative arts and rare crafts. The site also includes an amphitheatre, two conference rooms, and nearly 160 bedrooms, enabling participants to experience full immersion. A restaurant, open morning, noon, and evening, completes this unique island experience.
To inaugurate Campus MaNa Venezia, the institution launches the training series “Guardians of the Gesture”, dedicated to the arts of making and to rare crafts linked to restoration and excellence in craftsmanship. Master pleaters, wood marquetry artisans, master glassmakers, specialists in plaster, stucco and staff, basket makers… These exceptional figures take turns passing on gestures, materials, and precious knowledge—often little known. Here, the gesture is both heritage and a living language.
Designer and founder of Campus MaNa, Thomas Dariel, describes Venice as an obvious choice. “Venice is more than a backdrop: it is a matrix.” From the Italian Renaissance to the French golden age of the 18th century, a foundational dialogue emerged between cultures, giving rise to the very idea of luxury. It is this legacy that Campus MaNa seeks to keep alive through transmission. The opening of Campus MaNa Venezia is the result of a collaboration with Alexandre de Metz, founder of Venezia Photo, entrepreneur, and passionate devotee of La Serenissima. Together with the Campus MaNa teams, they affirm that the MaNa spirit—excellence of gesture, celebration of the hand, and sharing of knowledge—is universal and can take shape far beyond French borders.
As Campus MaNa Venezia begins its first year, the institution is already unveiling an ambitious programme for 2026, conceived as a living dialogue between French and Italian fine craftsmanship, design, and architecture. Particular attention is given to detail, to the right gesture, to that intelligence of the hand that distinguishes creators around the world. Campus MaNa Venezia thus invites artisans, designers, architects, and enthusiasts to anchor their journey in a place imbued with soul. In Venice, transmission becomes experience. Prepare your hands.•
Practical Information: Campus MaNa is Qualiopi-certified, offering a genuine opportunity for professionals. Training programmes at Campus MaNa Venice may be fully covered by Afdas, with no upfront costs. Participants are also eligible for travel assistance (airplane, train, or bus) of up to €300, as well as a daily allowance of €84 to cover meals and accommodation.
Photos : Campus Mana • Pierre-Yves Morel © Marine Peixoto • KOGEI MANA Programm © Campus MaNA
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