‘Foreign life’, history of emigration from Friuli Venezia Giulia
Enter into the lively “Vite forestiere” project, which the Historical Workers’ Society of Pordenone has started with five Higher Institutes in the Pordenone area, regarding the knowledge of the history of emigration from Friuli Venezia Giulia. Carried out on the basis of a regional call, the project involves a study group selected from students of the Grigoletti Scientific High School (which also plays the role of project partner), the Leopardi-Majorana High School, the Flora Institute and the Istituto Zanussi, all from Pordenone, and the Marchesini Institute of Sacile, coordinated by a teacher tutor inside each school and with the scientific and didactic supervision of the SOMSI representatives.
The Municipality of Pordenone and ITAS Assicurazioni are also supporting the project, while the other two partners include EFASCE and the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone in the learning and experience path proposed to the children, who will now be directly involved in the next appointments that await them.
After having examined the events of the protagonists of the novels and poetic works chosen as the literary basis of the project (“The portrait of Maria” by Raffaella Cargnelutti for the story of the Cramars; “The shell of Anataj” by Carlo Sgorlon for the Friulians of Trans-Siberian; “People with me” and “The line of fire” by Syria Poletti about emigration to South America between the two wars; finally, the poems of Leonardo Zanier), the group met some “testimonials” to deepen the issues addressed in the readings: Maria Balliana (for Syria Poletti); Angelo Floramo (for the stories of the Friulians in Siberia), the same author Raffaella Cargnelutti for migrations from Carnia in historical times. Interviews that then found a concrete reference to material evidence, through educational visits to the Ethnographic Museum of Udine and the Gortani Museum of Tolmezzo.
Now the project comes into contact with the documentary evidence of the archive and the “real life stories” of the Friulian families, thanks to the participation of the project partners from Pordenone. It starts tomorrow, Wednesday 24 November, at EFASCE – Ente Friulano Social Cultural Assistance Emigrants – Pordenonesi in the world, which will make available to students its experience in collecting contacts and documents and above all in the relationships that it continues to keep alive with community of fellow countrymen abroad. Then, in early December, a visit to the Diocesan Historical Archive of Pordenone will follow, where it will also be possible to find useful resources to better trace the memory of the emigrants of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the historical-social history of the territory. The whole program of activities is aimed at the realization of a final paper, which the students (in groups or individually) will present at the end of their study path and training experiences, next spring.