Design as a dialogic practice for fragile heritages. A community micro-museum in the heart of Sicily.

Abstract

The present paper – which also brings together a reflection on the complex and identity-based context of the Mediterranean area with all its critical aspects, but also with its specific values - is articulated within a theoretical framework that investigates the complex relationships between design, cultural heritages, territories and communities, characterised by conditions of systemic fragility. This part is followed by the presentation of a design experience from a small eco-museum carried out in a rural village in the Sicilian interior. A community-based micro-museum, generated through dialogic and co-design practices, which combined the historical-anthropological and scientific-educational dimensions linked to knowledge on wheat and bread. A project designed to reuse the cultural heritage as an engine of sustainable and shared development, of a small and fragile, yet cohesive, rural community, which has intercepted some emerging research address from the contemporary debate on the topic.