Istituto Interregionale di Studi e Ricerche della Civiltà Appenninica: Archivio della memoria collettiva

The archive of the Istituto interregionale di studi e ricerche della civiltà appenninica, based in Sestino, was established in May 1978 as an interregional initiative promoted by the Comune di Sestino, eight Comunità montane across Toscana, Umbria, Marche, and Emilia-Romagna, and scholars from the Universities of Siena and Perugia, with the aim of collecting and preserving materials representative of central Apennine areas and documenting ways of life, social practices, material culture, and their transformations over time; the project originated in 1975 with the idea of creating an anthropological museum of orality and life histories, and was further developed in 1977 by Giancarlo Renzi and Vittorio Dini, who were appointed executive director and president respectively, while subsequent meetings and conferences defined the scientific and methodological framework of research, including data collection and archival procedures. In 1980 the association Centro interregionale di studi e di ricerche della civiltà appenninica was formally established, later dissolved in 1989 and reconstituted as Istituto interreggionale di studi e ricerche della civiltà appenninica. Archivio della memoria collettiva, with the mission of promoting research on the traditions and culture of central Apennine populations and ensuring the systematic collection, classification, and preservation of diverse materials (letters, audio and audiovisual recordings, photographs, memoirs, diaries), while also fostering territorial cultural policies, funding schemes, scholarships, and training activities; a revision of the statute in 1996 further strengthened collaborations with universities, research institutions, and professional associations, with a particular focus on vocational training and specialization courses. More recently, the archive has undergone a process of preservation and enhancement: in July 2022, following an initial survey, the Biblioteca di Area Umanistica dell’Università di Siena proposed to the Comune di Sestino a project for the temporary loan and digitization of the sound archive, resulting in the digitization of 154 audio cassettes by Audio Innova in 2023; subsequently, the project STOA - Space and Time in Oral Archives (PRIN PNRR P20229S48H STOA) enabled the preservation digitization of 337 additional audio cassettes by Kiné in 2024 and the development of valorization actions aimed at promoting the reuse of this significant audio heritage, with both the original analog materials and the digital copies ultimately returned to the Comune di Sestino and to the director of the Istituto di studi e ricerche della civiltà Appenninica.