The year 1000 is considered the year ‘zero’ of the Sant’Orso Fair. On 30th and 31st January, for over a thousand years, the centre of Aosta has been displaying the artworks of master artisans, who exhibit and sell their products today as before. The Foire de Saint-Ours is a great kermesse dedicated to Valle d'Aosta crafts that still attracts hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts of manual arts.
For artisans, the fair is an obligatory appointment and for all the people of Valle d'Aosta a moment of celebration, to reinvigorate a sense of cultural belonging. This year's guest of honour was Alberto Cavalli, director general of the Cologni Foundation and curator of 'Homo Faber'. The MAV-Museo dell'Artigianato Valdostano di Tradizione proposed the 'Oeuvre Choisie' initiative, an event that has now been running for ten years: from the crack of dawn on Monday 30th January, Barbara Bernardi-Gra-Tonetti, the head of heritage protection, and Nurye Donatoni, the artistic director of the MAV, picked out from the stalls of the fair the works that, due to their characteristics, represent the ideal fil-rouge between past and present of traditional local craftsmanship. Alberto Cavalli also participated in the selection of 'Oeuvre Choisie': his preference went to the work of Gian Giuseppe Barmasse of Valtournenche. All the pieces are included in the museum's collection and exhibited to the public from 4th March to 4th June 2023 within the temporary space of the MAV.
Maggiori informazioni: fieradisantorso.it / www.lartisana.vda.it/foire-2023
