The exhibition

Everyone is familiar with Umbria’s ‘green heart of Italy’ description. That it is the heart of Italy would seem to be guaranteed by its geographical position in the centre of the peninsula and by its rounded shape. So why replace the green with blue and call Umbria land of water when it’s the only mainland region of Italy with no coastline? Not to launch a new promotional campaign but to draw attention to all the region’s water. Grand Tour travellers were well aware of this peculiarity and, in fact, its water sites have long been some of Umbria’s most visited, sketched, described and lauded by poets, some of them since antiquity: the Marmore waterfalls, Narni’s Bridge of Augustus, the Springs of Clitunno and Lake Trasimeno. Much of the Tiber also runs through Umbria and it is here that it turns into an important river, after large quantities of water from the Chiascio-Topino, Chiane and Nera rivers run into it.
From his villa just to the north of Citta di Castello, Pliny could see the Tiber with small but robust boats sailing on it and Virgil and Propertius wrote of the white oxen which bathed in the waters of the Clitunno.
This is a journey through the centuries and the beauties of these water sites with a focus on its multiple facets and uses and its relationship with the land: rivers, lakes, springs, aqueducts, fountains, wash houses and watermills.
The material in the exhibition belongs to the Scriptorium collection of Piero Giorgi and Carla Cicioni, who selected the materials and contributed to the exhibition layout. Neither expert cartographers nor hydrologists, historians or economists these are collecting enthusiasts who study the fascinating ancient paper materials they come across, for passion. Each single text and ancient paper opens up a world of knowledge by means of the questions they ask those observing them. Past papers and documents can be tools with which to read the past but also give us insights into the present and project into the future. In this sense this exhibition poses many questions and touches on a key issue, the ethical use of water, a shared asset which is more precious than ever today.
The video with readers from the Magione and Perugia LaAV circles introduces us to the enchantment of our ‘sister’, water.