Macomer: on the streets of the woolen wool, towards a permanent exhibition in the historic Alas wool factory

Where Sardinian wool was processed for over half a century, in the old Alas factory, a grandiose exhibition will soon be born which aims to become permanent, to tell the story that has always seen Macomer at the center of industrial evolution.

This is the "Sulle vie dell'orbace" project, an initiative of the Macomer Rotary Club, linked to research into the traditions and culture of the area. A story to be told and passed down, through the display of ancient documents, raw materials, artisanal products and machinery, always artisanal, with various processing tools. «For this reason we ask for the participation of the entire territory - says Silvana Bellai, president of the Rotary Club Macomer - to immediately start a collection of material related to the orbace, from ancient artefacts, to men's and women's clothing, to shepherds' cloaks, saddlebags , saddle pads, including yarn and finished product production tools. The project will therefore become an important exhibition that will tell the story of Sardinian sheep's wool and its processing, starting from the dawn of our civilization up to the advent of industry."

An industrial activity started in 1933 and blessed by Benito Mussolini in his visit to the Alas factory, which took place on 12 May 1942, which gave rise, for the first time, to female employment in this area and on the island. A story told in all the details by Domenico Falchi, from 1959 until the accounting closure of that industrial activity. «With the arrival of the cheese industrialists at the end of the nineteenth century - explains Domenico Falchi - the agro-pastoral world underwent an epochal change. In Sardinia the number of sheep has grown from 800 thousand heads at the end of the nineteenth century to over 2 million at the beginning of the last century. In 1939 the Gruppo Lanario Sardo was founded in Macomer for the self-sufficient exploitation of Sardinian wool. Thus was born the first textile industry on the island."

An exhibition which, according to the organisers, will be launched in that old factory, partially renovated, which will be completed with another intervention. An exhibition that will become permanent, with a sort of wool museum, with the display of ancient machinery, the residue of a great activity, which remained active for around 60 years of the last century.