This is the story of the small ethnographic museum “Casa Ligas-Uda”.

Sardinia is an ancient land, melting pot and synthesis of many important cultures that have crossed and lived there over the centuries, which still today shows its peculiarity in the originality of its identity tradition, through its priceless and fascinating material and immaterial heritage of ancient origin.
Sometimes, we realize the great value of many things in our existence only after we have lost them forever.
And this above all happens for all those things that are part of our ordinary life, marked by the time of our ages, by the actions of our know-how, by the sense of the sacred that we have been taught to place in every gesture and in every object that belongs to us.

This is the story of a Sardinian family who for generations has lived and transmitted those identity values of their own tradition, and in particular the male and female clothing heritage of their town of Settimo San Pietro, which they carefully preserve in the small museum "Casa Ligas-Uda” created specifically for this purpose.

The history of the small ethnographic museum "Casa Ligas-Uda" in Settimo San Pietro – a village in Southern Sardinia near the regional capital Cagliari – concerns the traditional garment heritage of Sardinia, and begins with the desire of Teresa Uda and Domenico Ligas to see the passion that has captivated them since their youth was realized and materialized, especially regarding the traditional clothing identity of their town of Settimo San Pietro.

Passion that is passed on to their children Fabrizio, Simonetta and Lucia, who since childhood have been personally involved as figures in the "Nuraghe" folklore group, specifically created by their parents to bring those original ancient garments back to life.

Thus the Ligas-Uda family, organizes ethnographic exhibitions and involves many people from the village to participate with the "Nuraghe" folk group in the most important religious festivals and celebrations of the village of Settimo and of all the Sardinian communities, making available both the precious original garments antiques and original copies of the same, to be worn on the occasion as a representation of one's village of Settimo San Pietro.

And it will be Fabrizio and Simonetta who as adults, in addition to taking the lead of the "Nuraghe" folklore group, will create the small museum in the "Casa Ligas-Uda" which was a family home, designing and creating the museum layout of the various environments with the setting up of special exhibition spaces in the various rooms, with showcases and display cases made by themselves, where today mannequins dressed in the original traditional male and female clothing are displayed on display, daily work clothes, festive and ceremonial clothes, some dated to the first half of the 19th century, and others to the first decades of the 20th century; as well as a series of display cases displaying a rich array of gold and silver jewellery, and accessories for everyday use.
In particular, in one room an ancient bedroom typical of Southern Sardinia has been set up, with wooden and metal furnishings, and various objects, all original from the end of the 18th century.
After the death of her parents, while Fabrizio dedicated himself more to the organizational tasks of both the small museum and the folklore group, Simonetta dedicated herself directly to the clothing heritage, both in terms of the care and restoration of the garments exhibited in the "Casa Ligas-Uda” museum, both for the study of documentary sources and materials for the recovery of lost historical memories, and for the sartorial creation of copies of the original garments of which the ancient original has been received or of which information has been recovered from the study of aforementioned documentary sources.

The “Casa Ligas-Uda” museum is today managed by the Casa Ligas–Uda Museum Association, with president Simonetta Ligas and vice-president Anna Mura, Fabrizio's widow, who with great courage and passion hold the reins of both the Museum and the “Nuraghe” Folk Group, confident of facing a difficult future to keep these two realities in business, with the aim of keeping alive the identity value linked to these ancient testimonies, which connect Settimo and Sardinia to all the communities of Europe.

A collaboration with the non-profit cultural association “A.ST.RI.S.- Associazione Studi e Ricerche Sardegna” began a few years ago, and in particular with the president Stefano Castello, licensed tourist guide of Sardinia and freelance researcher expert in the history and traditions of Sardinia, through which the implementation of various valorisation and promotion actions with the organization took shape of guided tours, experiential educational workshops, cultural and tourist events.

But above all, together we managed to have protection granted to the rich private collection of traditional clothing kept in the "Casa Ligas-Uda" museum with decree no. 19 of 02.19.2018 of the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendency for the metropolitan city of Cagliari and for the provinces of Oristano and Southern Sardinia, with the motivation that "...The costumes constitute an organic ethnographic collection of exceptional interest for their completeness and their chronological coherence, and are representative of the various roles and social statuses covered by the Sardinian women between the 19th and 20th centuries... Care and philological study have always guided the criteria for choosing the pieces that converged into a collection peculiar for its organicity, coherence and completeness, elements rarely found in island collecting...".
The objective of the two associations A.ST.RI.S. and Museo Casa Ligas–Uda is to gard and preserve the original heritage, make it known to the world in order to understand its identity and representative value of the population of the village of Settimo, closely linked to that of many communities and peoples of Europe through material and immaterial characteristics.

The project of the two associations A.ST.RI.S. and Museo Casa Ligas–Uda for the future is to continue study and research; to promote synergies and collaborations with European communities working with heritage; to promote the cultural exchange of ideas, information, goods and services, in order to refunctionalize and improve its operations in a European dimension of its local heritage, to implement the flows of cultural tourism, as an important resource and economic driving force for subsistence.
To this end, the project also includes a program of activities which may include: guided tours, experiential workshops, conferences, exhibitions, publications and media coverage.

What we are willing to undertake as associations is a project that can increase the potential and operational capabilities of the museum, with the improvement of the musealization of the available environments or with the acquisition of another structure to be used as a new museum headquarters with the availability of larger environments to create more exhibition space.

As well as increasing promotional and awareness-raising activities among people with the aim of strengthening common awareness of the need to protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
PROJECT CURATORS: Stefano Castello and Simonetta Ligas

The “Casa Ligas-Uda” museum is today the only ethnographic museum in Sardinia which houses a collection made up of all the original clothes known so far of a single community, that of Settimo San Pietro, and which, at the same time, are testimony of the cultural syncretism that has been generated over the centuries with the various peoples and ethnic groups that have inhabited Sardinia.
In the shapes of the various garments of the Settimo clothing, typical characteristics of European cultures are in fact recognisable, including the Iberian and French ones, while the motifs of the decorations harken back to the cultures of the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations and of Asia Minor, as well as those of central Europe.

The “Casa Ligas-Uda” museum therefore wants to act as an example above all for all the other communities in Sardinia, so that each one wants to take action to better safeguard and highlight the importance of their local clothing heritage, so as to be able to strengthen the sense of belonging of the Sardinians to the common European space, and therefore encourage them and make their material and immaterial heritage come to life through all those daily actions that follow the path of a thousand-year-old tradition, and which are an essential resource, a vital principle and a gateway to belonging to one's community.

The mission of the A.ST.RI.S. associations and Museo Casa Ligas–Uda is to be able to promote and enhance the identity of Settimo San Pietro through its important clothing heritage, through intercultural dialogue and the mutual exchange of human values, with the direct involvement of young people, schools, elderly people , artisans and all those who in various capacities are involved in the socio-cultural network, always guaranteeing inclusion and accessibility.