Mutated Lands

A slow voyage into the heart of the Apennines, through the changes in the landscape created by the earthquakes of 2009 in L'Aquila and 2016 in the Marche, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo.

A slow voyage into the heart of the Apennines, through the changes in the anthropological and naturalistic landscape created by the earthquakes of 2009 in L'Aquila and 2016 in the Marche, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo. I wanted to tell the state of physical and psychological abandonment of the earth, still deeply marked by the devastation of the earthquake, and substantially abandoned by the Italian state that has rebuilt little or nothing. I saw villages and landscapes rich in history and biodiversity, building a path of solidarity and knowledge and experiencing moments of profound relationship with the natural environment and with the people who live in the places transformed by the earthquake, still guests of prefabricated houses, little more than cold stalls in winter and hot in summer. From Fabriano to L'Aquila, over 250 km of walking in the heart of the Apennines. I crossed the territories and came into contact with the communities of four regions of central Italy (Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo and Lazio), along the hiking and cycling trails of two important protected areas: the Monti Sibillini National Park and the National Park Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga. Something has changed in the Mutated Lands. The force of nature has produced changes to geography, to artifacts and above all to people, generating stories, protagonists and projects of rebirth worthy of being told, known and above all supported. The Mutated Lands remain full of life and the desire to start over, they are populated by determined people who, despite the latest shocks, resist and do not throw in the towel. In the Mutated Lands, people have become the real protagonists of the change: in Illica, completely razed to the ground in a few minutes, Clementina and Davide show the foundations of their home that is no longer there. Davide sits exactly where their kitchen used to be. Because staying is as important as resisting. Maybe more.