ABOUT

Sclavanie tells the story of the rediscovery of a geographical microcosm, a mountain area on the border between Italy and Slovenia, the author's place of origin. Sclavanie is a term that indicates the Slavic origins of the first populations who inhabited these territories. Today it has completely changed meaning, and has been absorbed by the Friulian language to indicate, in a derogatory way, the people who live mainly in the mountainous border areas and who preserve their Slavic roots. 

Degano, with an ethnographic gaze explores this area characterized by emigration and depopulation of small mountain villages. These phenomena have weakened oral transmission and the survival of memories and ancient traditions and require concrete strategies to reverse the trend and trigger a "return to the village". Degano's research moves through an active, critical and conscious re-examination of the "local", investigating the common memory handed down by the inhabitants who resist in these places. This project aims to be an opportunity to reflect on the values of living and community, on their transformation, on degradation, on extinction but also on rediscovery.