Back in April of last year we published the following article which quoted ” The damp weather over the past few weeks has made its self felt right through this area, not just amongst the inhabitants of this lush and verdant valley* who are decidedly now completely fed up with all the rain.
Enough is enough they say but of course, enough isn’t really enough, as there will probably still be a problem with water shortage later on this season but the dampness is not just affecting peoples spirits but has also made inroads into some of the structures around the city.
Workmen recently were called to the Duomo to stop water that was leaking down through the roof and infiltrating the 1000 years old walls.
So it is somewhat ironic that the first thing that visitors to Barga see when coming into the city from the Loppia road is the large welcoming sign with an image of Barga by the photographer Paolo Marroni which is gradually being destroyed by the damp.
The Duomo which is on the top left hand side of the image is practically obliterated by a creeping black damp patch which looks set to engulf the whole image given time.
Added to which, the main image of Barga Vecchia has been there for a few years now and the sun is gradually bleaching out the image and turning it into a kind of oversized 1960′s postcard image.
Maybe the time has come for another image to welcome visitors to Barga.
It could be that Paolo has another image from his huge archives of images from Barga that would be suitable but maybe something else could be organised ?
There is a new breed of young photographers working in this area who might like the chance to put their image into the public domain.
How about if the Comune organised a competition to see who gets the chance to put up their image on the board ?
If not the Comune, then what about the recently formed Pro Loco ? Wouldn’t this be a great way of getting their new logo onto the scene where everybody can see it ?
Maybe Lucia Morelli, Nicola Salotti and Stefano Tommasi down at the iNStallazione di Venti d’Arte in Fornaci di Barga should be involved along with Vaina Continuati and Alessandro Stefani at Vaso di Pandora in Barga Vecchia – both organisation which have experience in photographic competitions and exhibitions.”
*and you know why is is such a green valley don’t you ? – the high rainfall of course
Just over a year later, there has been movement – a new sign now welcomes visitors to Barga with a shiny image by the photographer Massimo Pia.
Maybe now, the sun will come out ?
