INSPIRATION

Again today, I left from Sassari and I retraced for the second time the road towards Ittiri and then the climb that crosses Tissi to get to Ossi. I arrive at the Town Hall and meet Pasquangela, the vice-mayor, who offers me a coffee and takes me by car to visit a magical place outside the village, Mulineddu, a land at the foot of the limestone ridges under which the 131 highway passes just before arriving in Sassari. This piece of land is owned by the artist Bruno Petretto, who transformed it into a real artistic park.

Bruno, nicknamed “the king of Mulineddu”, accompanies me on a tour that starts from the amphitheater, built by him alone, stone after stone, all white limestone. There is still some part to be finished and shows will take place here one day. We pass the main building, always built by Bruno (which makes me think of the house that Jung built on the banks of a lake) which contains an exhibition space, and we start to see many works here and there, on the ground, on trees, sculptures created by artists who have passed through here.

We arrive at a tree house, climb on it and enter it, then we pass the river through a rope bridge, and we arrive at what Bruno defines as the “Sistine Chapel”, a fig tree with a whole series of dried dead animals representing the same scenes from Michelangelo’s work. We reach another amphitheater, surrounded by sculptures of all kinds, from which, sitting on the steps (always built by Bruno) you can admire the whole white limestone ridge under a blue sky.

Back to the village we go to the Fundone Municipal Park, where the work “Diversamente Vivo” (differently alive) is located, a pine tree knocked down by a wind storm, and left on the spot, where Bruno made a grave and a plaque, complete with a photo of the deceased tree .

For lunch the councilor Maria Laura joins us and in the very hot afternoon, together with the guide Sabrina, we reach Mesu ‘e Montes, on the road that faces the wind turbines and the Florinas quarries, and not far from the rural church of Sant’ Antonio, to see a beautiful site of domus de janas, some of which are rich in ornaments on the walls and vaults.

Before leaving for Sassari where again I will sleep tonight, we take a walk in the center, passing the beautiful seventeenth-century baronial palace with incorporated the Ethnographic Museum, the parish church of San Bartolomeo, strictly in white stone, other nobiliary buildings, and a beautiful stone fountain at the exit of the village.

SOUND FRAGMENTS

SHORT SARDINIAN STORIES

Yesterday in Tissi there was a bank robbery. Today, a gas depot exploded in Ossi. The administrators speak of this emergency which fortunately resolved in the best way. So while they relax, they can talk to me about some important educational and social activities carried out here, for example with children who have educational deficiencies, such as dyslexia, or with children with psychiatric problems, in some cases quite serious. Once, a field-trip to Alghero was organised together with the boys of the parish group. The route included ten kilometers of ascent on foot, of which five with a varied ballast. Before reaching the top, the boys had to lighten up by leaving ballast parts on the route, choosing what was more or less important. Climbing to the top with all the ballast would have been impossible. The things left on the path would become indications for other walkers who wanted to follow the same path to the top. In addition, the boys carried with them the indispensable supply of water in a water bottle, on the outside of which various things were written, in order of importance from top to bottom. So the more the kids drank the more the level of water left, more and more precious as they progressed, went down to touch more and more important things. It seems that this path, full of symbolism, almost a ritual, has been beneficial for many children. Somehow I see a parallel with my journey.