The Museum Tells the Waldensian Folk Imaginary: Stories, Beliefs and Figures from the Oral Tradition
The Museum Tells the Waldensian Folk Imaginary: Stories, Beliefs and Figures from the Oral Tradition
San Michele, May 29, 2025 – 9 p.m.
At the Italian Folk Imaginary Museum and online by reservation
The 2024/25 season of Thursdays at the Museum concludes with an event that interweaves oral memory, cultural anthropology and intangible heritage: “The Museum Tells. Stories of the Waldensian Folkloric Imaginary,“ the second stage of the project ”A ‘vija’ in the Waldensian Valleys: beliefs and figures of folklore.”
The project is conceived by the La Giubba APS Association, in collaboration with the Italian Museum of Folkloric Imagery-thanks to the scientific efforts of its director, Prof. Alberto Borghini-and the Waldensian Cultural Center Foundation. The initiative is realized with the support of the Otto per Mille Valdese 2024 Call for Proposals.
The Oral Tradition of the Waldensian Valleys
Like any territory deeply experienced and traversed by man, the Waldensian Valleys are also the custodians of a rich collective imagination. This is a narrative heritage sedimented over the centuries, transmitted orally in the long winter evenings in “vija,” around the hearth or in the stables, where stories of places, mysterious creatures, inexplicable events and shared symbols were woven together.
The project proposes to restore voice and visibility to these narratives: an oral tradition preserved today in the Archives of the Museum of Folkloric Imagery, including dissertations, university theses and ethnographic research. Through selection, transcription and digitization work, the collected stories are now being returned to the community in public form.
May 29: the first public restitution
During the May 29 meeting, which is open to the public both in person at the Museum’s headquarters (Via Ducale 4, San Michele) and online by reservation at this link, some of the most significant stories will be read, divided by figures of the imaginary: the masche, fairies, goblins, and other presences that populate Waldensian folk culture.
The evening represents the start of the restitution actions, which in the following months will continue with the production of thematic podcasts and the publication of a volume dedicated to this collection of stories, thus making the contents accessible not only to the local community, but also to scholars, enthusiasts, teachers, artists and researchers.
Also speaking at the meeting will be the Director of the Valdese Cultural Center Foundation, Dr. Davide Rosso, and Dr. Tatiana Barolin, bringing the Foundation’s contribution to the enhancement of cultural memory and its transmission to new generations.
A living heritage between research and dissemination
“A ‘vija’ in the Waldensian Valleys” is configured as a project with a strong ethnographic and participatory value, in which the dimension of archival research meets that of public restitution and accessible dissemination. The stories of Waldensian folk imagery are not only documents of the past, but tools for reflecting on the present and the cultural roots of mountain communities.
A valuable opportunity, then, to listen to the voices of folklore, rediscover the narrative power of oral tradition and renew the dialogue between territory, memory and imagination.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)