There are places where the past never disappears: captured in a black-and-white photograph, perhaps yellowed, in the faces of a procession, in the silhouette of a boat crossing the gulf, in a man using a plow, in a group of people with a hard-working life, in a handful of houses, it reemerges from the past to tell its story to all of us.
In Cannigione, that memory has returned to speak in the rooms of the Monsignor Romero Oratory, in the parish of San Giovanni Battista, thanks to a photographic exhibition dedicated to the origins of the village.
Gianni Filigheddu, together with the San Giovanni Battista Association, curated it. "The idea was born from a desire to highlight our history, which is too often overlooked," he explains. It's an ancient history, rooted well before the development of tourism, and it portrays a community that thrived on agriculture, livestock farming, and the sea. Fishing, Filigheddu explains, was primarily subsistence: almost every family owned a small boat, but only a few actually lived off the catch. Among the families who contributed to the birth and development of the village, he recalls the Fresi, Orecchioni, Filigheddu, and Pileri families. The images depict processions documented as early as 1948, the old church around which the first settlement formed, work in the fields, and, above all, the connection with the gulf. Cannigione was indeed a safe port, and La Maddalena was its main market: twice a week, boats transported agricultural and pastoral products to the island and brought back goods, clothing, and tools, also providing essential connections to services and healthcare. Then came the 1960s and tourism. "It's as if they loaded us onto a missile and fired us into the year 2000," Filigheddu jokes. Residences, hotels, campgrounds, and the port quickly changed the face of the town.
Today, Cannigione looks to the future without losing its identity. "Above all, we'd like the municipality to pay closer attention to a hamlet that contributes so much to the region." The exhibition was born from this: remembering where we come from to better understand where we're going. The exhibition will remain open until August 29th.
