Orotelli's Carnival rites in Marco Navone's exhibition at the Stucco Society of Olbia
The images of the first release of the Thurpos in the newly inaugurated exhibition
A journey into the Barbagia carnival, on a day of lashing rain that discourages curious visitors but not the community that gathers around the ritual, and so the photos restore its authenticity intact.
Exhibiting at the Società dello Stucco, in via Cavour 43 in Olbia, this time is the landlord Marco Navone, tireless cultural operator and photographer by passion. The exhibition "Orotelli 16 January 2023", inaugurated on Friday evening in front of a large audience of enthusiasts, is dedicated to the first outing of the Thurpos in Orotelli for the feast of Sant'Antonio. «Perhaps because of the bad weather – says the author – I have rediscovered that original flavor of a festival deeply felt by the local population. Few visitors, many oroteddesos and above all very few photographers. Practically a dream, an incredible journey, in the end just a short way from home».
In the images the two parts of the feast, the religious one with the mass, the blessing of the fire by the priest and the passage of the saint three times around the fire, and the pagan one with the exit of the thurpos in another propitiatory rite that sinks its roots in ancestral Sardinia. The large presence of children is striking: «From a journey into a distant elsewhere - Navone concludes his presentation - the familiarity of a rediscovered celebration remains and above all the large presence of masked young people and children, to demonstrate that these traditions are particularly rooted and , fortunately, destined to last ». You can book a visit to the exhibition at cinema.tavolara@gmail.com.
