Artisanal Intelligence Fund

Supporting makers, designers, and researchers keeping endangered craft traditions alive by placing them in the hands of a new generation.

The most endangered knowledge in the world is not in books or archives; it lives in the hands, eyes, and bodies of master craftspeople aging without successors, and the best way to preserve it is not to document it but to put it in contact with new practitioners who will carry it forward in their own way. Artisanal Intelligence Fund backs the makers, designers, researchers, and filmmakers doing exactly that: engaging endangered making traditions as living practice, from kasuri weaving in Kurume to silk looms in Okinawa, and translating ancestral knowledge into how we design, build, and live today. The fund is led by Anneleen Bertels and Waldo De Keersmaecker, founders of KNOTTO, who curated Artisanal Intelligence for the EU Pavilion at the Osaka World Expo, matching five European artists with five Japanese master craftspeople in residencies whose work is now touring six countries.

Eligibility

We welcome independent artists, designers, researchers, craftspeople, documentary filmmakers, and small organizations working at the intersection of ancestral craft traditions and contemporary creative practice, anywhere in the world. Cross-cultural exchange is this fund's beating heart, and its curators hold a high bar: they sit with the masters, learn the techniques, and expect you to go just as deep.
To qualify for this fund:
- Your project must engage at least one endangered or threatened craft tradition as a living practice, not as historical reference
- Projects may take any form rooted in material practice: residencies, workshops, exhibitions, publications, films, or installations
- You must commit to open documentation: sharing process, research, and outcomes publicly so others can learn from and build on the work
- Projects must be led by independent makers or small organizations, not primarily funded by large commercial entities

Projects (10)

9 submitted · 1 curated

Project	Status	Raised
Weaving Memory	curated	$2,376
Akuya	submitted	$234
MetaGraff Gallery & Hall of Fame	submitted	$120
The International Artists Project Documentary	submitted	$563
OduGraph AI	submitted	$20
Iscas Pet Pollinator Network	submitted	$24
The Public World Library - worldbibliotech.com	submitted	$60
Pressure Editions Printmaking Studio	submitted	$29,537
XochiPili ARTisan	submitted	$815
Art Renaissance in Nigeria	submitted	$160