“La Vite ad alberello di
Pantelleria”.
The traditional practice of cultivating head-trained bush vines (vite ad alberello) is transmitted
through generations of vine growers and farmers of the Mediterranean island of
Pantelleria. About 5,000 inhabitants own a plot of land, which they cultivate
using sustainable methods. The technique consists of several phases. The ground
is prepared by levelling the soil and digging a hollow to plant the vine. The
main stem of the vine is then carefully pruned to produce six branches, forming
a bush with a radial arrangement. The hollow is constantly reshaped to ensure
the plant is growing in the right microclimate. The wine grapes are then
harvested by hand during a ritual event starting at the end of July. The
vine-growers and farmers of Pantelleria, male and female, practice vite ad alberello under harsh
climatic conditions. The knowledge and skills of bearers and practitioners are
handed down in families through oral and practical instruction in the local
dialect. In addition, rituals and festivals organized between July and
September allow the local community to share this social practice. The people
of Pantelleria continue to identify themselves with vine growing and strive to
preserve this practice.
“La Rete delle grandi macchine a spalla italiane”.
Catholic processions featuring large shoulder-borne
processional structures take place throughout Italy, but particularly in four
historic city centres: in Nola, a procession of eight wood and papier mâché
obelisks commemorates the return of St Paolino; in Palmi, bearers carry a
complex processional structure in honour of Our Lady of the Holy Letter; in
Sassari, the Discesa dei Candelieri (Descent of the Candlesticks) involves the
votive transportation of wooden obelisks; and in Viterbo, the Macchina di Santa
Rosa (Tower of Santa Rosa) commemorates the town’s patron saint. The
coordinated and equitable sharing of tasks in a common project is a fundamental
part of the celebrations, which bind the communities together through the
consolidation of mutual respect, cooperation and joint effort. Dialogue among
the bearers who share this cultural heritage also results in the development of
an exchange network. The celebrations require the involvement of musicians and
singers, as well as skilled artisans who manufacture the processional
structures and create the ceremonial clothes and artefacts. The festive
communities rely on the informal transmission of these techniques and knowledge
to recreate the structures every year, a process that aids cultural continuity
and reinforces a strong sense of identity.
“La Dieta mediterranea”.
The Mediterranean diet involves a set of skills,
knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions concerning crops, harvesting, fishing,
animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and particularly the
sharing and consumption of food. Eating together is the foundation of the
cultural identity and continuity of communities throughout the Mediterranean
basin. It is a moment of social exchange and communication, an affirmation and
renewal of family, group or community identity. The Mediterranean diet
emphasizes values of hospitality, neighbourliness, intercultural dialogue and
creativity, and a way of life guided by respect for diversity. It plays a vital
role in cultural spaces, festivals and celebrations, bringing together people
of all ages, conditions and social classes. It includes the craftsmanship and
production of traditional receptacles for the transport, preservation and
consumption of food, including ceramic plates and glasses. Women play an
important role in transmitting knowledge of the Mediterranean diet: they
safeguard its techniques, respect seasonal rhythms and festive events, and
transmit the values of the element to new generations. Markets also play a key
role as spaces for cultivating and transmitting the Mediterranean diet during
the daily practice of exchange, agreement and mutual respect.
“Il Saper
fare tradizionale del violino a Cremona".
Cremonese violin craftsmanship is highly renowned
for its traditional process of fashioning and restoring violins, violas, cellos
and contrabasses. Violin-makers attend a specialized school, based on a close
teacher-pupil relationship, before being apprenticed in a local workshop, where
they continue to master and perfect their techniques – a never-ending process.
Each violin-maker constructs from three to six instruments per year, shaping
and assembling more than 70 pieces of wood around an inner mould by hand,
according to the different acoustic response of each piece. No two violins are
alike. Every part of the instrument is made with a specific wood, carefully
selected and naturally well seasoned. No semi-industrial or industrial
materials are used. Craftsmanship requires a high level of creativity: the
craftsperson has to adapt general rules and personal knowledge to every
instrument. Cremonese violin-makers are deeply convinced that sharing their
knowledge is fundamental to the growth of their craftsmanship, and dialogue
with musicians is deemed essential so as to understand their needs. Traditional
violin-making is promoted by two violin-makers’ associations, ‘Consorzio Liutai
Antonio Stradivari’ and ‘Associazione Liutaria Italiana’, and is considered
fundamental to the identity of Cremona, its citizens, and plays a fundamental
role in its social and cultural practices, rituals and events.
“Il Canto a tenore dei
pastori della Sardegna”.
Canto a tenore has developed within the pastoral culture of Sardinia. It
represents a form of polyphonic singing performed by a group of four men using
four different voices called bassu, contra, boche and mesu boche. One of its
characteristics is the deep and guttural timbre of the bassu and contra voices.
It is performed standing in a close circle. The solo singers chants a piece of
prose or a poem while the other voices form an accompanying chorus. Most
practitioners live in the region of Barbagia and other parts of central
Sardinia. Their art of singing is very much embedded in the daily life of local
communities. Often it is performed spontaneously in local bars called su
zilleri, but also at more formal occasions, such as weddings, sheepshearings,
religious festivities or the Barbaricino carnival. The Canto a tenore
encompasses a vast repertoire that varies within Sardinia. The most common
melodies are the serenade boche ’e notte (’the voice of the night’) and dance
songs such as the mutos, gosos and ballos. The lyrics are either ancient or
contemporary poems on present-day issues, such as emigration, unemployment and
politics. In this sense, the songs can be regarded as both traditional and
contemporary cultural expressions.
“L’Opera dei Pupi
siciliani”.
The puppet theatre known as the Opera dei Pupi emerged in Sicily at the
beginning of the nineteenth century and enjoyed great success among the
island’s working classes. The puppeteers told stories based on medieval
chivalric literature and other sources, such as Italian poems of the
Renaissance, the lives of saints and tales of notorious bandits. The dialogues
in these performances were largely improvised by the puppeteers. The two main
Sicilian puppet schools in Palermo and Catania were distinguished principally
by the size and shape of the puppets, the operating techniques and the variety
of colourful stage backdrops. These theatres were often family-run businesses;
the carving, painting and construction of the puppets, renowned for their
intense expressions, were carried out by craftspeople employing traditional
methods. The puppeteers constantly endeavoured to outdo each other with their
shows, and they exerted great influence over their audience. In the past, these
performances took place over several evenings and provided opportunities for
social gatherings. The economic and social upheavals caused by the
extraordinary economic boom of the 1950s had a considerable effect on the
tradition, threatening its very foundations. At that time, similar forms of theatre
in other parts of Italy disappeared, some of them to re-emerge some twenty
years later. The Opera dei Pupi is the only example of an uninterrupted
tradition of this kind of theatre. Owing to current economic difficulties
puppeteers can no longer make a living from their art, prompting them to turn
to more lucrative professions. Tourism has contributed to reducing the quality
of performances, which were previously aimed at a local audience only.
Coming soon: "La Pizza Margherita".
