Widespread Culture: Tradition, history, art, crafts, food and wine and contemporaneity

The  Si-Moutique project provides the recovery of some aspects of the territory’s culture ,. an intangible heritage  connected to the material life of the people who lived in the ancient County whose roots  go back to ancient country cultures civilizations .

Concerning the gastronomic tradition,,we’ll procede, through the involvement of workers in the sector, with a particular attention to various cultivations such as grapevines and olives , food production and local dishes, for a faithful reproduction to a profound inquiry on the   symbolic and emotional food rituals in populations always at the limit of material existence .

The visible changes in  our society in recent decades, through the decline of traditional trades and crafts , cancelled by  the technology , have speeded the urgency of the recovery and enhancement of all the material gathered  in  ethno-anthropological museums which illustrated a world of centuries-old  experiences  and manual creativity in which were established work traditions and production relations.

Dense multitudes of men and women, anonymous protagonists, often ignored by official history were the patient weavers of collective identity and even of the city’s  image .

GesualdoBufalino in  his  book “Museum of Shadows” defines these trades “wandering activities, performed in the open air with the consent of the sun, rain, and wind: “picaro ” crafts such as mastru re mura a siccu,scuparu,cruviddaru,sunnunaru,vuttaru,mastru re carretta.

The tools, artifacts, anecdotes and history of these works, erased by technological progress, must not be forgotten and for this we aim to launch, through educational workshops, the restart of the studio-schools  in the persepective of the preservation of memory, the development of social cohesion and the rediscovery of ancient knowledge and crafts.

Another goal will be the organization of cultural and artistic events by IngegniCulturaModica, a cultural and tourist promotional  Association, managing authority of the Medicine Museum “Tommaso Campailla” in Modica.

The Association  was the protagonist in the last years of exhibitions which have already established themes of  territorial identity   and the  relationship between man and the environment t, even through the  adherence to National , social, culture and tourism Authorities   to create situations  of particular historical and cultural significance. These cultural events will be organized  for members, for sympathizers and also for hotel guests such as  Conferences, exhibitions, debates, seminars, films and documentaries,  concerts, workshops for children, youth and adults concerning  history, local traditions and cultural heritage

The basic idea is to recreate  in Modica Alta, an ancient Hyblean village that has strong characteristics of identity and  territorial integrity, some aspects of materially “poor” culture or  aspects of “high culture” using music as  an expression of universal art, painting and photography.

Special attention will be given to the best editorial productions, having as the theme Sicily in general and the  Southeastern Sicily in particular.