Photopaper 22
Valeria Cherchi

I feel overwhelmed by the way these people are welcoming me. Despite their genuine kindness and good intentions, I often feel that I must follow their rules, I must behave as they want me to. I’ve been following Valeria’s work in Sardinia since its very beginning. Once, while she was telling me about one of her first trips to Barbagia, she was mainly talking about the difficulty of dealing with people and the complexity of the relationships she was engaging in in that harsh region of her homeland. I was very taken by her stories as they reminded me of my youth, of some old times spent in Sicily, at my parent’s village, moments filled with a great humanity and, at the same time, the feeling of following a credo, a sort of unspoken code. In this sense I know I am in a privileged position to understand Valeria Cherchi’s work, made up of subtle layers, as delicate as they are rough, and where each single element hides a range of meanings and rituals. Where the personal is mixed with the heritage of one of the most mysterious and inaccessible Sardinian landscapes. Where memory, investigation and narration participate in the construction of a compelling story, able to face the evidence of blood, kidnapping and murder, as well as intangible signs lost within a certain kind of folklore. Here I present this work, a trailer, a teaser, a taste of images and texts which can guide you through the psychology of the characters who make this story. – Salvatore Vitale
(source: https://photopaper.world/portfolio-item/photopaper-22-valeria-cherchi/)