Siligo, “Maria Carta” Museum

Dedicated to Maria Carta, musicologist, poet, actress and very sensitive interpreter of Sardinian popular music, who more than any other has helped to make known in the world. The exhibition, on two levels, two rooms of 90 square meters each, is divided into various sections that illustrate, with photos, stage costumes, memorabilia and movies, his multiple activities. It starts with biographical events, from his birth in Siligo (1934) to his death in Rome (1994), for an incurable disease faced with great courage. The second section is dedicated to her career as a singer and musicologist. An extraordinary contralto, Maria encounters music as a child, singing the Mass. Over time, he developed a deep philological interest in Logudorese popular music, but also Barbarian, Gallurese and Campidanese. He perfected his research in Rome (where he moved in 1958) to the “Center for Popular Music Studies” of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He rediscovers lullabies, gosos, muttos and Gregorian chants. He reworks and interprets them in an innovative way, with adaptations to ancient and contemporary Sardinian poetic texts, giving rise to a rich recording production and a highly successful concert activity (Milan, Rome, Avignon, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Latin America, Hamburg, Japan, India, Australia, Paris, Moscow, Toulouse). In 1990-91 she was commissioned by the University of Bologna to teach a course on the method of collecting songs. The third section is dedicated to the poet Maria Carta, whose greatest work is “Ritual Song”, 1975, a series of compositions on men, landscapes, traumas and passions of Sardinia. There are unpublished manuscripts and a valuable film in which the artist interprets some poems. The following sections illustrate theatrical activity (“Medea”, directed by Franco Enriquez, 1972; “The Memories of Adriano”, with Giorgio Albertazzi, directed by Maurizio Scaparro, 1989/90; protagonist in the role of Saint Teresa of Avila in Franco Simone's musical “Barefoot Towards God”, 1992) and cinematographic (“The Godfather II” by Coppola, 1974; “Excellent Corpses”, by Rosi, 1976; “Jesus of Nazareth” by Zeffirelli, 1977; “The Camorrista”, by Tornatore, 1986; “Disamistade”, by Cabiddu, 1988). Finally, his political commitment as a city councillor in Rome for the PCI is presented, between the end of the seventies and the early eighties of the last century. One photo portrays her with Enrico Berlinguer, another brings moving reflections on faith written by the artist, already undermined by evil, after her encounter with John Paul II.

Why it is important to visit it
To appreciate the figure of the artist Maria Carta, the social and cultural context of Sardinia and its transformations. The highlight consists of stage clothes, prizes and awards, photos, original press review, manuscripts, films and music.