These men and woman, young and old, are receptacles of ancient knowledge learned from their grandparents and parents and guard arts and practices of the past that say much about the Villacidro of days gone by.

Some professions are gone forever, since they have no place in today’s economy: the cart-maker, the saddle maker or the blacksmith but in Villacidro there are still some people left that skilfully make products, once of daily use that today are mostly seen in the home as décor or as a welcome present.

The kinds of items created and the materials used to make them are diverse and come from nature itself, just like in the olden days:

• Olive branches, reeds, soft rushes, willow, through the art of weaving, these items take shape and become baskets, large baskets to hold bread and flour, cadius, scattedus with many shapes, colours and dimensions; elements that were once tied to daily use and functions in the fields and at home. Now they are aesthetic pieces that make splendid décor objects.
• Metal, animal horns, wood….from which jack-knives, typical of Sardinian tradition, essential tools for peasant life and those of the shepherds which was closely linked in a world of hard work in the fields and sheep pens
• Cork, wood, soft rushes, fruit seeds …used to create items, décor and toys of many different types, often elaborately decorated and carved with motifs and designs from the past: chicks, trees, flowers and animals
• Land, clay, coloured enamel, pottery that bring precious works into being that recall ancient objects used every day: vases, dishes, bowls, basins, “sciveddas”, jugs and at times they reproduce ancient pieces of pottery and objects found in archaeological sites throughout the territory.

Tours of the many workshops enable the visitor to recover the memory of ancient arts, to keep the testimony and in some way put the skill to use. It is easy to observe production cycles and admire how skilful hands create a knife rather than a decorated basket or an object carved in wood or a decorated ceramic vase…all of these created according to ancient traditions and knowledge. These are authentic moments of encounter and transmission of knowledge and identity.