It is to be relocated. “We are worried, where are we moving 2,300 artifacts?” Proposed single museum center
IVREA. In September 2019, the contact persons of the Amici del museo association had directly launched an appeal from the pages of the Sentinel of the Canavese so that someone would do something to save the Ethnographic Museum of the Canavese, already at that time strongly at risk from woodworms and humidity.
The Museum was and still is located in the three municipal premises of the former Cena which overlook the internal courtyard of the Garda, the same that the association has loaned since the Ethnographic was moved there from its location to the Garda Museum, to the about 27 years ago.
In 2019 the appeal fell on deaf ears. And now, the problem of woodworms and humidity in the meantime worsened due to the protracted closure following the health emergency, is compounded by the fear of soon losing this site too. The former Cena should make room for the new library.
The city administration idea was announced months ago, although there are currently no deadlines looming.
a heritage of history
In overcrowded spaces, the Ethnographic Museum of Canavese preserves over 2,300 testimonies of the non-industrial Canavese of the last two centuries, artifacts from work in the fields and from the world of old crafts.
These are objects recovered over almost 50 years thanks to the painstaking and tireless work of almost 1,400 enthusiasts. Of these over two thousand finds, 1,260 are listed. There is even a desk by Adriano Olivetti. And then, among the many, the tubs for the grape harvest, the vats where the grapes were pressed, an artisan textile machine that made knitwear for the First World War, a three-hundred-year-old plow, the great keys of the ‘500 of who knows which door. There is to get lost.
the association
Lucia Guelpa was part of the Amici del museo association. Even today it sees Professor Pietro Ramella, a well-known writer and local history scholar, at the forefront. With him, who is the contact person, there is also Antonio Frassà, vice president of the Club for Unesco. The association, active since 1977, has known glorious eras in which it counted up to 300 members.
Now he counts ninety and the average age has definitely risen. The group takes care of the management of the office and the realization of events such as the presentation of publications. Even if it’s not easy. An example: disinfecting the site from woodworms would have meant taking on a cost of five thousand euros, too much.
and now?
«Our Museum of the territory is bad – explains Frassà – in the sense that with this Covid and due to the difficulties in accessing the museum courtyard – where we have the entrance – we have not been able to set foot. In the last meeting for the approval of the budget we took stock of the situation and we are worried: the former school will be demolished to make room for the new library and therefore we will have to move the 2,300 artifacts recovered so far ». Where, exactly? «The city does not seem to have any sensitivity towards these testimonies of artisan works, albeit poor, but which made it possible to live and survive before and even after Olivetti. I remember that these finds, which we consider worthy of an Ecomuseum, were first placed in the Garda Museum. When the Garda restructuring project took place, the then Grijuela administration decided that they would not be included in the museum and therefore the Amici del museo association asked for and obtained the current premises on loan ».
Of course, Frassà concludes, «it would be a good thing when renovating or constructing the new building to think of placing all the museums nearby. I am thinking of a single museum center, that is, a place where you visit all at once. Keep in mind that further up there is also the Diocesan Museum ».