|
A F P,
(Associazione Folkloristica Piemonte)
Piemonte Folk Association
Is
The Association of all the folk groups of Piemonte Region.
At the moment ten among the best folk groups from Piemonte have joined the association: spread all over the region, they represent it very well both from a theatrical point of view and as ambassadors of their own folk culture.
The groups from AFP excel for their continual researches on dances, music, traditional costumes that are part of the folk cultural inheritance and traditions of our region.
How AFP was born
Our way of Acting
What kind of Folklore
Different Values of Folklore |
How AFP was born
Looking for a structure able to motivate and coordinate programs to develop the folk movement of Piemonte was the mainspring that pushed the promoters to found the association among the folk groups of Piemonte Region shortly named Piemonte Folk Association or more simply AFP, on 28th September 2002 in the town of Lanzo T.se.
 The primary need was to create a register of the Piedmontese associations that really work in favor of the folk culture and that own a sufficient organization skill and a satisfying artistic value.
Today the task of the Association is to update this register following the evolution of the most popular groups and their new formation. The associated groups strongly believe that folk traditions, cultures and costumes are the easiest and the most effective means to promote their own land. That is why they are going to cooperate at their utmost with the Region, which has become more and more careful to the folk culture in order to give more prestige and visibility to the typical products of handicrafts, agriculture and gastronomy of Piedmont and basically make them more appreciated.
To simplify the interventions of the people who intend to activate promotions connected to folklore, AFP has made an operative system available in order to:
- Find and locate the folk groups ready for these actions and invite them on the occasions of feasts, festivals and shows;
- Cooperate to the realization of special performances of promotion and other folklore-based shows;
- Giving advice in terms of folk culture.
Coherent with the initial statements and making use of the inheritance of knowledge and volunteers from the associated groups, AFP works in close collaboration with the local institutions that share the same interest for the folk culture, and aims at promoting the regional folklore and the area in which it operates.
In order to reach the declared aims, it will be necessary to share common objectives, identify the prior ones and find the means to reach them.
In the Italian scenery of the folk performances the activity of the associated groups stands out among others. It is also very appreciated by the people of the area to whom it addresses with different values, because every folk show arouses a spontaneous interest in the audience that immediately feel like taking part in the actions of the show.
|
What kind of Folklore
AFP understands “folklore” as study, research, synthesis and description of a simple and genuine folk culture, conceived as the daily lifestyle of our ancestors, with a special attention to music, dances, songs and costumes ( i.e. way of dressing compared to way of living).
If one goes back to the first half of the last century, folk culture cannot be separated from the daily urgent needs of those times and from the jobs of agriculture, handicrafts and housework able to satisfy them.
Today folk groups are starting to show an interest in industrialization, in the economic boom of the Sixties and in the events that followed it such as immigration.
Another qualifying element is the territory in which certain past experiences took place and where dialects have always been the natural way of communicating and differentiating from each other.
So described and practiced, folklore is the most spontaneous and effective way to promote the territory outside but also towards its own people.
Different Values of Folklore
Folklore doesn’t restrict itself only to the recreational aspect but also wants to favor first of all the friendship among the people of the most different nations, exploiting the traditions as infinite sources of repertoire and art.
 This is the motivation that mixes in the job of the volunteer organizations that cooperate and everywhere take part actively in the productions of the folk performances. These performances keep the movement of our folk culture alive. They also meet an exceptional audience and arouse the deepest approval in every place where they take place.
In the end we must point out that the cultural exchange with the groups that come from abroad to our countries is also very relevant because it allows them to “meet” and visit our lands in areas that would be difficult to be reached and it promotes the presence of foreigners in Piemonte: the piedmontese groups in fact take part in dozens of parallel performances in Europe and other parts of the world very often and organize initiatives in order to make the other nations meet the traditions, the culture and the typical products of Piemonte.
|
