Associazione Ursaria amici del museo, Orsara Bormida

The ethnographic museum of Orsara, housed in the premises of the Municipality, was created in 1996 by a group of volunteers, following the first donation of ancient agricultural objects made by the never forgotten Guido Farinetti.

In the following years it has been enriched thanks to the generosity of the people of Orsara and beyond: today the Museum has many pieces of ancient personal and household linen, female and male accessories, a very rich sample of agricultural objects linked to peasant civilization, objects for domestic use related to the same archaic civilization, toys, old advertising signs, photographs and newspapers of the time, and some antique furniture.

The Museum is managed by the association “Ursaria Amici del Museo” established in 1998 and of which almost all the families of the town are members. The association has revived ancient traditions and performs a social function by organizing exhibitions, concerts, local cultural events. It publishes a local newsletter called L’Orso, which plays a role linking the past and the present, offering historical memories together with current news from Orsara. The most precious paper document preserved in the museum is the war diary of Bernardo Zambado, a farmer from Rivalta, born in 1890, who left for the war in June 1915, fallen in the San Martino Basin on October 21, aged 25.

The peasant ethnographic museum publishes a quarterly periodical, which is sent to all members of the Ursaria Amici del Museo Association (141 members) and, free of charge, to all Orsaresi residing in Argentina. A large part of the population of Orsara emigrated to Argentina many years ago and still today maintains contacts with the town of origin.