…Memory revealed, Matter transformed
This exhibition dedicated to the industrial history of Corsica invites us to a journey through time. For nearly a century, the exploitation of wood, the development of mines and quarries, the metallurgical production, were major activities in the economic development of Corsica.
If these activities are now abandoned, their traces are still inscribed in the space and remain a precious heritage that it is important to reappropriate in order to be able to transmit it.
Through this journey of memory, the visitor discovers the multiple transformations that are those of the material, at the different stages of its exploitation, from the raw state to the industrial product, and in all its forms: log, sawdust, cork, ore, stone block… Transformed material, memory also revealed by the machines that evoke this period of mutation in all the sectors of the island society. A steam pump, a boiler, an alternator, a Pelton wheel,… are all objects, imprints left as strong testimonies of this period of industrialization of Corsica.
The exhibition also presents the men, actors of these technological, economic and social changes of the island during this period. These are the portraits and photographs of entrepreneurs and daring businessmen, such as the Orenga family, Bastia’s notables or the Englishman Southwell, but also those of technicians such as the mining engineer Gueymard, those of specialized workers, the Italian miners of the Ersa antimony mine or even those from Central Europe working on the Matra site.
By going to meet the men who contributed to “shaping a territory”, all those who contributed to the development of Corsica until the middle of the 20th century, the exhibition thus testifies to a still recent past that has forged our collective memory.
Curators: MAURICETTE MATTIOLI, Chief Curator of Industrial Heritage, Head of the Heritage Inventory Department – PIERRE-JEAN CAMPOCASSO, Heritage Manager.
Coordination of the project, exhibition and catalog: GABRIELLE TORRE, Heritage Assistant in the Inventory Department Coordination of the project, catalog ‘ PIERRE-ANDRE ALBERTINI, Head of the Heritage Development Department
Organization of the project, general inventory: MARIE-ANTOINETTE FIDELI, technical assistant at the Heritage Inventory Department; MARIANNE MINICONI, conservation officer at the Heritage Inventory Department; PASCALE NERI, photographer at the Heritage Inventory Department
Scenography: EXCALIBUR, FREDERIC JANGOT, project director and JACQUES LE DISEZ, scenographer
