I had the pleasure of taking up a creative residency in Valle Mongia in Piedmont from 19 to 24 July as part of a project run by the Arborea association.
The aim was to discover the region's chestnut groves and all the cultural and economic dynamics that enable them to resist decline. In addition to the various meetings and visits, we had to be ready for one event in particular: the Castagneto Acustico festival, created over 10 years ago by Sandro Bozzolo, film director and son and brother of a chestnut grower. A whole evening of readings and concerts, from the setting sun to the dark of night - studded with stars and torches. A feast of grace, e tanti gelati alla castagna!
I had chosen to take part with a collaborative performance: a literary karaoke based on chestnut literature. I was the one who opened the evening, and it was lovely to hear a dozen or so readers take it in turns to perform the voices and texts of the great poets and writers who have celebrated chestnuts and chestnut trees, from all eras and in all languages. Pablo Neruda, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Gianni Rodari, Virgil, Jean Giono, Herman Hesse, Grazia Deledda, Giovanni Pascoli, George Orwell...
But we were also there to talk about chestnut growing in Corsica. We chose to rely on an extract from François Xavier Dianoux-Stefani and, of course, Paoli di Tagliu. André sang a few verses from Lamentu di u Castagnu. It's an understatement to say that it aroused emotion and fraternity.
Over the last few days, our intuition has been confirmed: i populi di u castagnu sò populi fratelli! A noi d'adunesce li!
