The recovery of the memory of Volpara

The fate of Volpara, a small town in the upper Val Versa, is that common to many other rural centers in Italy. These villages, once lively due to the agricultural activity that was rife in the area, were populous and active. Today they are almost deserted: only a hundred inhabitants remain in Volpara, mostly elderly. This is why the municipal administration has decided not to lose the memory that these people keep and with the help of grants from the Cariplo has inaugurated a project that consists of two actions. The first and most prevalent is the creation of a digital photographic archive that brings together and preserves all the old snapshots of Volpara. The second is the collection of oral testimonies of the old farmers, who still remember how to predict the weather once it was enough to observe the sky and certain atmospheric conditions. The painter Tindaro Calia moved to Volpara, who on the basis of the old photos created frescoes and paintings that nowadays adorn the town hall of the village.