A journey through Occitan linguistics, botany, tools and dances.

The exhibition Dandelion: time for bourrée will be on view free of charge from June 21 to September 21, 2025 at the Espaci Occitan Studies Institute,Val Maira 19 in Dronero.
Center hours: Monday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Wednesday 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Saturday 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For info: Espaci Occitan, www.espaci-occitan.org, segreteria@espaci-occitan.org, tel. 0171.904075, Fb @museooccitano, Ig @museo.occitano.

Downloadable poster attached

For the summer of 2025, Espaci Occitan in Dronero returns to offer the possibility of visiting at its premises the exhibition entitled Dandelion: time for bourrée. It is a project conceived by Espaci Occitan and La Fabbrica dei Suoni and born from the 1,000 graphic plates painted in watercolor in 2017 by artist Elisa Talentino, an internationally renowned illustrator from Turin, who was inspired by the ancient dances of Occitan culture after a trip between the Hautes-Alpes department and the province of Cuneo.

Thus was born the animation Dandelion, in which the plates were assembled to bring to life two dancers who, as in a courtship ritual, approach, move apart and brush against each other to the notes of a two-step bourrée, specially written by cellist Julia Kent and inspired by traditional Occitan music.

The only element that appears between the two dancing bodies is a simple and common flower that makes its appearance in the meadows in spring: the Dandelion or Dandelion (in English dandelion): popular tradition has it that scattering the seeds of this plant, contained in a dandelion, in the air can make a wish for love come true.

An evocative and poetic animation, produced by Airelles and winner of many awards including the Gold Medal 3×3 Mag at the Professional Show in New York, which impressed Espaci Occitan and La Fabbrica dei Suoni, who, with the support of the CRC Foundation, the Piedmont Region and the Mutty cultural space in Castiglione delle Stiviere, several years ago created an articulated journey into the world of Occitan music among the characteristic instruments and dances, the flowers and animals that inspired the designer, and last but not least into the Occitan cultural and linguistic world, which of all these themes is the background and common thread.

A visit to the exhibit, with texts by Rosella Pellerino and set designs by Sara Ambrosoli and Paolo Cavallo, thus becomes a true experience of the various senses, combining elements of linguistics, botany, mythology, and anthropology.