About us

Mare e Miniere

Mare e Miniere is an itinerant festival of music, theater and dance that involves, from spring to autumn, small and large municipalities of our island – Sardinia. Set in an extraordinary natural environment and rooted in a profound mining culture, Mare e Miniere aims to relive the architectural charm of abandoned villages.

Mare e Miniere was first conceptualized in 2006 by the Società Umanitaria di Carbonia which, with the artistic direction of Mauro Palmas, produced the first three editions up to 2008. In 2009, Mare e Miniere was a collaboration between Mauro Palmas and the Art’In association of Cagliari. After two years break, in 2012, Mare e Miniere definitively became a project of our association elenaledda vox, of which Mauro Palmas, in 2001, was a founding member.

The association, led artistically by Elena Ledda has committed for over twenty years to the dissemination of the linguistic, musical and literary heritage of Sardinia, which opens itself to comparison with the cultures of the whole Mediterranean meeting genres and expressive worlds such as jazz and classical music.

Mare e Miniere therefore is the result of the experience gained in the course of artistic paths dotted with concerts and original musical productions all over the world, starting from the smallest island realities. Mare e Miniere is a true expression of passion for a land rich in natural wonders and cultural peculiarities, which truly constitute a power capable of generating cultural, social and economic growth.

Our association, with the same enthusiasm of 20 years ago, has embarked on an ambitious path, solidly staying away from the temptations of easy-to-capture shows, but presenting ambitious original productions over the years instead. This that has been and continues to be a challenge in attracting an increasingly vast public, especially young people, who are often more likely to prefer the seductions of a culture that calls for an uncritical consumption of images and slogans.

Predominantly dedicated to expressions of popular origin, Mare e Miniere offers events by internationally renowned artists, protagonists of research, study and experimentation. These can all be grouped into a genre that Mare e Miniere prefers as a genuine voice of people’s souls, an expression of emotions and passions in which the viewer of any age or cultural background can identify and recognize themselves; expression which, due to its communicative immediacy, naturally translates into education: to the knowledge of one’s historical, linguistic and cultural roots for a healthier understanding of reality in our multi-ethnic societies; to the formation of a more solid identity awareness for a more fruitful human, social, cultural comparison, starting from one’s own strengths and peculiarities; to the enhancement of diversity as an added value of humanity and an indispensable starting point for the construction of new economic growth; to the depth of feeling, to empathy, to exchange, to closeness; in search of wealth and beauty that transcend the canons imposed by consumerism and globalization and translate into respect and care for human beings and for the environmental heritage; education to the value of memory as teaching for the future.

Mare e Miniere has grown over the years and since 2014 has combined the performative part, already full of concerts, moments of theater and dance, poetic readings, literary meetings, book presentations, with an important training section consisting of the Seminars of Singing, Music and Popular Dance, which they have become its beating heart.

Initially also hosted in Gonnesa, Iglesias, Sant’Antioco and Villacidro, the seminars are now held permanently in the suggestive Tonnara Su Pranu of Portoscuso, involving the municipal administration, accommodations and commercial facilities, schools and cultural associations, with which relationships have been established friendly and mutually supportive. Every year in the last week of June, we offer lessons in the morning and in the afternoon and prestigious evening events. The village comes alive with sounds, colours, music and dances, with the participation of hundreds of people of all ages, enthusiasts, musicians, scholars and journalists from all over Europe and beyond. A unique experience of hospitality, coexistence, comparison, exchange and human and educational growth, which for many young talents translates into the start of an artistic career.

In line with the protection and promotion of the environmental heritage and the centrality of the human being and his psychophysical well-being, which guide the entire exhibition, Mare e Miniere also presents the special format MUIDAS (murmurs), conceived and created for some years in collaboration with the association “L’officina delle idee” of Sarroch. The format is characterized by the proposal of shows in natural contexts of absolute suggestion, not easily accessible and often little known, in which the viewer can immerse themselves in an intimate dialogue between art and the surrounding nature.

Mare e Miniere involves the whole island of Sardinia and mainly small municipalities and territories of the Sulcis Iglesiente region where there are precious testimonies of our mining history alongside an extraordinary natural environment. Mare e Miniere intends to support in a growth path towards the reacquisition of a central role territories which were once protagonists of the economic rebirth of the island, and today are marked by precariousness. For this purpose, recently we set up the Mare e Miniere Network among Municipalities with similar environmental, historical and archaeological heritage, aimed at promoting shared actions that favor the social, cultural and economic development of the communities. Numerous Municipalities hosted the exhibition: Aggius, Alghero, Arbus, Buggerru, Cagliari, Carbonia, Carloforte, Fluminimaggiore, Gadoni, Giba, Gonnesa, Guspini, Iglesias, Ittireddu, Lula, Masainas, Monserrato, Muravera, Musei, Ozieri, Pula , Portoscuso, Quartucciu, Quartu Sant’Elena, Sant’Anna Arresi, Sant’Antioco, Sarroch, Sassari, Soleminis, Teulada, Villa San Pietro, Villacidro.

Mare e Miniere, with the musical direction of Mauro Palmas, has become over the years an eagerly awaited event, a cultural reference point for World Music lovers, an unmissable opportunity for those who love to combine holidays and study, relaxation and interest in the environment, natural beauty, history, archeology, music, dance, popular traditions.

Mare e Miniere evokes the meeting of water and earth; it is an extraordinary natural environment, the suggestion of abandoned mining villages, silence, music, and memories that we have a duty to care for and preserve.