L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS I n Rome, this year, the magic of Christ- mas has the scents of cedar and larch. The welcoming embrace of the Colonnato del Bernini is the backdrop for a wooden marvel created by 11 skillful a r t i s t s a n d c r a f t s m e n , a Nativity in the typical style of the Alpi Carniche (Friuli Venezia-Giulia). T h i s y e a r ' s p r e s e p e i n Saint Peter's Square comes from Sutrio, a charming hamlet located at the feet of Monte Zoncolan, in Friuli, and will accompany Pope Francis' Christmas prayers throughout the festivities. The small Carnia village, which is only a couple of hours away from the border with Austria, is known for its wood craftsmanship tra- dition. Once upon a time, there was a wood carver in every family. Here, among narrow cob- bled streets and traditional stone houses, you can find some of the most renowned wood carving workshops in the region. Skills are honed by working on the abundant materials coming from the luxuriant woods surround- ing the village, and by using t e c h n i q u e s d e v e l o p e d through generations. Furni- ture with ancient, traditional decorations, homeware, stat- ues and bas-reliefs. Creativ- ity, here, develops under a blue Alpine sky, breathes the terse air of the mountains and follows slower rhythms. Sutrio - which is the most ancient human settlement in Friuli - has been, for more than fifty years, a "Nativity village," a paese presepe. Among its attractions, we can find the P r e s e p e d i T e n o , a f i n e l y c a r v e d , human-sized wooden Nativi- ty whose statues fit perfectly into local architecture, with its courts, archways and win- d o w s f i l l e d w i t h c o l o r f u l geraniums. Even more spe- cial are the homes of the old "Cramars," ancient traders of fabrics and spices who would travel and sell local Carnia products in other parts of the region. You can recognize their abodes thanks to the k e y s t o n e o n t h e i r d o o r , which has the caduceus - symbol of trade - on it. This monumental presepe r e p r e s e n t s S u t r i o a n d i t s people, and it's named after G a u d e n z i o S t r a u l i n o , known as Teno, who worked on it for over 30 years. It's so realistic, and it mirrors the life of the village so closely, that it could be almost con- s i d e r e d a n e t h n o g r a p h i c museum. With the alternat- ing of day and night, with its moving figures, and with water running in miniature streams, Straulino (1905- 1988) reproduced the vil- Continued to page 6 A Christmas of silence and beauty in Piazza San Pietro Some of the beautiful sculptures making up the Sutrio presepe in Piazza San Pietro (Photo: Arc Fvg) BARBARA MINAFRA lage's traditional mores, life, arts and crafts: the customs and traditions of Carnia. He reproduced, in great detail and also using mechanics, haymaking on Mount Zon- colan and its transport to the v i l l a g e w i t h b a s k e t s a n d sleighs; women weaving; the w o r k a t t h e m i l l a n d t h e sawmill; the trousseau trans- ported to the bride's new home; the coscritti, people who are born the same year, celebrating on a cart decorat- ed with bows. An extraordinary example of local craftsmanship, which is the result of patience and passion, local history and a profound respect for nature. In name of such a well- established and practiced tradition, in 2020, Sutrio's administration revealed the i n t e n t i o n o f d o n a t i n g a Holy Nativity, an intention that came to be this year, at the beginning of December, with the installation in Saint Peter's Square of 18 statues over 116 square meters, illu- minated by fifty points of light. The statues have been made in the past two years b y w o o d s c u l p t o r s a n d carvers working in Friuli V e n e z i a - G i u l i a : S t e f a n o Comelli, the project's artistic director, Father Gianni Bor- din, Andrea Caisutti, Corra- do Clerici, Paolo Figar, Ari- anna Gasperina, Isaia Moro, M a r t h a M u s e r , H e r m a n n Plozzer, Renato Puntele and the Ukrainian artist Olek- sander Shteyninher, who's b e e n l i v i n g i n I t a l y s i n c e 1999. The project is intrinsically tied to the culture of wood craftsmanship and its rela- tionship with history. But there is more because the presepe Sutrio donated to Rome was conceived with sustainability in mind: no tree was felled to produce it.

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