Picinisco's Story Telling - La Diaspora Scozzese a Picinisco

La Diaspora Scozzese a Picinisco

After months of planning by Cesidio and Marietta Di Ciacca, the second Diaspora Tapestry exhibition in Italy has got into full swing in Picinisco. It included translating the entire text of the stories into Italian - which Barga was also pleased to be able to share.



Marietta reported on the Opening as follows:

"... lots of interest even before we opened and during the local 'Story Telling Festival', a ten year old local book festival attracting a number of key Italian journalists.

"The panels are looking smart and hanging well. They don't seem to be reacting very much to all the changes in ambience.

"After the weekend Story Telling Festival was finished the type of interest has changed. Word of mouth is taking over other marketing, and it is the locals who are coming - the preferred time being evening. Groups of ladies are coming up together after evening Mass to see more, and bringing their friends and family. And numbers of younger people interested in art and fine art are arriving towards late evening, 8.30pm and after.

"People are amazed by the tapestry but also by the reasons the project came about and my Italian schpeil now covers this in a way that is meaningful to them!

"I've started a visitors book. But what is going better than we could ever have thought is the new panel we are creating. It was designed by Andrew Crummy to show myriad Piciniscans who travelled to Scotland and elsewhere in the UK with many familiar names. One, Ernesto Capocci, was an astronomer and another Ernesto from the family made ice cream in Airdrie and Hamilton.

A group of ladies is already forming to stitch it who now plan to go on to form a sewing club. They are totally committed and include Brunella, Ana and Luciana-Frances. I was very touched on Sunday evening when I returned to the exhibition after having left it briefly on an errand and was detained in the Piazza (as you do) to find that two ladies had taken the new panel out into the shade of the Montana to stitch. Progress to date can be seen below!



A tear came to my eye as they were sitting with their husbands in exactly the same spot as my own parents (no longer with us) were pictured years ago. I was also 'pleased' to get a telling off from these same ladies for not having enough wool. Now Peter Antonelli who is included on the panel has a thicker head of hair than he ever had!

"The Guides in Italian are proving very popular (and being sent abroad so customers are telling me)."