Sardinia’s archaeology is a vital resource for tourism, and the Museum of Laconi in Sardinia is the first in Italy entirely dedicated to prehistoric statuary.
Giorgio Murru, director of the museum, is also scientific director of a series of events that focus on the communication and dissemination of archaeology and miniature statuary in an important area of Sardinia on the western coastline, close to Oristano.
The giants of Mont’e Prama are proto-historic statues
“Recently we launched two major projects. The first, the Island of the Giants is on an area with very special cultural artefacts like Mont’e Prama and its proto-historic statues. They are called giants not so much because of their size, but because they represent the ancestors, chiefs and warrior heroes of the Nuragic civilization. To promote this heritage we created Archeologico 2022, the international archaeology festival of which I was technical director, while the artistic direction was entrusted to the musician Paolo Fresu.”
“Our cultural heritage has significant value for tourism”
Some 3,600 people attended Archeologico 2022, which is backed by the Sardinian Region together with the Mont’e Prama Foundation and premiered in Barlumi before moving on to Mont’e Prama and Tharros. The event, which was also followed on live streaming, brought 55 exhibitors to the heart of Cagliari and focused on the management of the region’s archaeological heritage.
“Archeologico 2022 confirmed that our cultural heritage is not just an element of significant value for Sardinians, but also for tourism, as it is a vital component in the creation of tourist itineraries that are not centered on the sea or on Sardinia’s natural beauty.”
Sardinia’s cultural heritage management costs one fifth that of Pompei
“Our projects have a twofold value: to grow interest at a local level, and to open a window to the outside world, because more visitors mean more jobs.” In 2019, the last pre-Covid year, Sardinia recorded 1,300,000 visitors, and Giorgio Murru underlines that Sardinia’s cultural assets are, to all intents and purposes, the world’s first true scattered museum. “Ours are very respectable visitor numbers, and they are higher than the number of visitors to Pompeii. The difference is that in Sardinia the costs related to cultural heritage are one fifth of those of Pompeii. We really are the top in Italy.”
