Montagna Sacra

Montagna Sacra explores the traditions and rituals of the rural communities living on the slopes of the Apuan Alps and shaped by the extraction of marble, and asks how a landscape influences those who inhabit it.

Since the Roman Empire, marble has been quarried in the Apuan Alps of north-west Tuscany and shipped from the port of Carrara to destinations all over the world. For the people of this region, the precious stone is both a curse and a blessing. Quarrying represents heritage and economic livelihood, yet it relentlessly erodes the natural environment, and the dangerous work in the quarries continues to claim lives.

Montagna Sacra focuses on the people and communities living on the slopes of the Apuan Alps—their customs, traditions, and rituals. The work explores the influence a landscape exerts on those who inhabit it. It is a portrait of a region and its people, shaped by contradiction and defined by the dependence on the valuable stone extracted from the mountains. Days are long, dogs are wary, and the air carries the scent of fire. Montagna Sacra reveals a province both revering and subjugating nature.