Nativity Scenes, Living Traditions. Craftsmanship Tells Its Story

During the Christmas period, the MAV – Museo dell’Artigianato Valdostano di Tradizionale offered the public an exhibition dedicated to the tradition of nativity scenes, from living representations to the sculptural productions of the great protagonists of our craftsmanship.

The exhibition told the story of nativity scenes and Christmas tradition through some important nativity scenes created by some significant interpreters of the history of our craftsmanship: Giuseppe Binel, Jean Brunodet, Giuseppe Amedeo Chapellu, Gino Daguin, Riccardo Foretier, Luigi Meynet, Feliciano Savoye, Gino Thomasset and Giulio Vuillermoz. The exhibition displayed nativity scenes from the institution’s collection and private heritage from both collectors and families of artisans in a participatory installation in which each work, each artisan, each family gave their contribution to give life to a choral exhibition, capable of simultaneously telling the sacred moment of the celebration and the family’s excellent artisan production.
The installation invites visitors to breathe the atmosphere of a special moment of the year through the elements that have brought the tradition of Christmas to life since time immemorial: the living nativity scene, the joy of sharing, stories of the past, poems and songs and, of course, the nativity scene. The latter is told through the great manual skill of the Aosta Valley artisans who have left us a legacy of the material production of a living tradition.