Sardinia is considered to be one of the firsts land masses in the history of the world. It is a huge sculpture in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, an island with a unique climate and eco-variety which have contributed to define Sardinia as a continent of its own, rather than a region belonging to Italy. 

The island hosts one of the most ancient civilizations in European history, the Nuragic civilization, which still in this day and age, is shrouded in mystery, with monuments and archeological finds that challenge historians in explaining this very ancient land. 

This mysterious origin is to be attributed to many factors, but one anecdote in particular is able to explain why the Nuragic culture is so difficult to study and understand. In 1820, after the takeover of the Savoyard government, the previous legal system that was standing since the XIV century (the Carta de Logu) was modified and the concept of private property was first introduced: the “Chiudende” law was established, and it stated that every land could be owned simply by closing it with wall of stones. 

The “Chiudende”, according to many historians, was one of the main motivations for the dispersion of stones belonging to the archeological heritage of the Nuragic civilization. The dry walls made of stones to delimit private properties, were taken by the wealthy people who could afford to pay workers, in order to have their own walled-up lands. To this day, the dry stone walls are able to tell the history of Sardinia, and they recently became a part of the Unesco world heritage symbols.

The scarce knowledge and consideration of the Nuragic civilization continue to affect local communities, which are unable to value their own cultural heritage and the history of Sardinia is completely being ignored by residents and tourists. 

As a Sardinian emigrant for the majority of my life, the first glimpse of land seen from the plane after hundreds of kilometers of sea, always made me think of arriving on an unknown island which I struggled to identify as mine. It’s only after moving back after 20 years of living and working abroad that I started to understand the complexity of Sardinia, and gradually its people and history. I started to discover the inland and learn about Sardinia: Nuraghes, the “giants” of Mont’e Prama, menhirs, canyons and sacred water pits are what can be found driving through this mysterious place.

The best way to describe Sardinia is by emphasizing its insularity, an offshore rock closer to France and Africa rather than Italy, with Catalan and Spanish influences. An island whose coastal areas have been conquered by every civilization roaming the Mediterranean sea, in contrast with the inland that was able to maintain its own identity, religions and traditions until modern times.

However, there are many difficulties for the internal, poorer areas of Sardinia to value their heritage. The disregard for unprofitable areas (compared to the coastal ones, where the investments and mass tourism are) makes it difficult for a proper development of these areas, starting from their cultural potentials. 

This inequality in the social and economical development of Sardinia is contributing to a strong emigration, especially of young adults, who are leaving rural areas to go to cities or other parts of Europe and this is leading to a progressive emptying of villages and small towns.

Letting the local youth leave rural areas of Sardinia is a risk not only for the villages which risk to disappear, but also for the intangible cultural heritage that these areas carry on: ancestral sheep farming, traditional crafts, typical productions of foods and wines and others. 

Giving these modest communities the tools for enhancing rural and internal territories is the first step to create a synergy between entrepreneurs and municipalities. This would benefit whole areas in implementing slow and cultural tourism 365 days a year. We aim to redistribute and deseasonalize tourism to help rural areas survive by telling their story.

The indifference towards the internal areas of Sardinia is slowly threatening some important sites which are too expensive to run (and poorly communicated to the public from the local authorities). Creating a network which can help the diffusion of high quality footage and creating an opportunity for dialogue between cultural professionals and municipalities managing tourism and archeological sites will hopefully help a better strategy to run and advertise cultural sites. 

The European dimension is represented by the mix of influences that Sardinia had to go through during its history: it is a region in which some local dialects are actually Catalan and Genoan. As a non-Sardinian speaker, I am constantly amazed by how my knowledge of French and Spanish is helping me in learning the language of my ancestors.

What this story teaches is that out of difficult change as the “Chiudende” law, another opportunity can be given to the local heritage, to the point of considering the stone walls as Unesco sites.

What we are willing to undertake as an organization, is a project which will be able to bring together different areas of Sardinia, both in the coastal part and in the inland. It will be a visual documentation project focused on the historical heritage of the island, and it will be available for the municipalities to use for local promotion in any way, with professional footage of videos and photographs. 

As an organization we believe that this is a first attempt to connect these areas, especially the most inland ones, whose unfulfilled potential is a missed opportunity for the whole region and is a threat for Sardinian heritage which risks to disappear. As part of European history, helping this kind of small projects is an opportunity to create a positive change in cultural promotion all over the island and inspire a cycle of positive opportunities.