Il ritorno alla lana per la rifondazione della civiltà montana in Europa. Esperienze di base

Abstract

The maintenance of mountain environments and population is closely linked to the perpetuation of pastoral and craft skills. Wool - whose cycle is vital in mountain civilisation - has since millennia been a central livestock product and a raw material for handicraft in the valleys, having therefore a great value, both in term of use and exchange. Big industry is today excluding local European wool from the market; a EU regulation (no. 1774/2002) reduces it to special waste. In the 70s, wool processing cycle has been interpreted as a strategic tool for a re-conquest of mountains. The Charte pour la montagne, drawn up by the Longo maï collective, provides analysis and action lines resulting in the recovery of a spinning mill in the Briançon area. In this cultural environment, in 1989, the Atelier - Laines d’Europe is founded as an association of breeders, textile craftsmen, artists, educators, researchers and museum institutions engaged in the revival of local wool: they thus form a mutual support network creating local projects focused on the reuse of native sheep fibre and the experimentation for putting it in value.