Casa dei Racconti

The Casa dei Racconti in Vallo di Nera preserves oral traditions of the Valnerina. Tales, songs and satirical stories form the subject of a centre devoted to the ways communities remember and describe themselves.

Why it matters

The house treats spoken tradition as cultural heritage alongside buildings and objects. The vallanate and blasoni popolari preserve humour, local identities and relationships between neighbouring communities.

What to notice

The wooden armadio della memoria, or cabinet of memory, uses drawers, shelves and compartments to give physical form to the collection of stories. Corrado Fagiani and Emilio Borgianini made it with a design associated with Franco Pappalardo, who also created the copper light-sculpture. Photographs by Denise Tan and Jean-François Lerasle add images of the community to the oral material.

Context and history

The centre developed from 2005 as part of work to document local oral literature. It belongs to the Ecomuseo della Dorsale Appenninica Umbra, whose thematic centres connect different aspects of the territory's heritage. Books, recordings and contributions from local families extend the account beyond a single storyteller or generation.