Rivers of tears, she didn't expect to be honored. The title of Camelia 2026, an award that the Gremio del Cavaliere infinito awards each year to one of the women who have contributed and continue to contribute with love to preserving the most intimate, most sacred, and most beautiful tradition of the Giostra , was awarded to Miriam Contini, who has breathed the air of Sartiglia since she was young.
While she was expecting her son, Sergio, when her husband, Pino, asked her if she had any wishes, instead of a sweet or a piece of fruit, she asked for a Componidori mask. The Infinite Knight Guild recounts this. Later, after she was widowed in 1990, as if to fulfill her dream, she sent the very young Sergio to Antonio Casu—the worthy founder of the Giara Club—to learn to ride. When the boy finally finished his studies and graduated, she gave him not a watch but a rapier. And it must be said that Sergio, forced by his mother's love to be a chosen one, knew how to oblige. In fact, he was first Componidoreddu in the Sartigliedda, and then, in 2017, Componidori.
Miriam Contini will be officially proclaimed Camelia 2026 at the Teatro Garau on Monday, February 16, at 8:00 pm, during the "Cantando a Carnevale" festival of traditional Sardinian choirs, which has always generously offered the Gremio del Cavaliere Infinito the space for its awards ceremony.
This year, too, the prize will consist of a precious ceramic camellia created and donated by artist Alessandra Raggio . But this year, some of her works will also be available for viewing by those who aren't present at the awards ceremony. From Friday the 13th at 7:00 PM to Tuesday the 17th, five of her large ceramic camellias will be on display at the Cominacini-Falqui Cao house at Via Parpaglia 38. The house, transformed for the occasion by Antonio Falchi's lighting, will create a metaphysical space perfect for those colorful petals that, as the artist says, "I shaped one by one with a soil that has always filled my heart."
The 11 Camellias awarded to date are Angela Solinas (2015), Gabriella Collu ('16), Maria Teresa Mereu ('17), Matilde Carta ('18), Anna Paola Corona ('19), Anna Contini ('20), Stefania Pinna ('21), Pina Soddu ('22), Patrizia Pala ('23), Giorgia Mugheddu ('24), Franca Fenu ('25).
