‘IN MARTELL, IN MY VALLEY…’
Farming culture and cultural landscape – yesterday and today.
The permanent exhibition portrays the mountain farm as a self-sustaining family enterprise, recounting the life of its inhabitants, their constant hardships and forced emigration through the ages. But there are also tales of joy, including the more recent success story of how this traditional mountain valley, a magnet for visitors, is readying itself for the future.
The Martell Valley is strongly marked by mountain agriculture. The hard living conditions of mountain farmers have created a very different mentality in the inhabitants of this valley. During the exhibition, some of these inhabitants speak through audio and video about the hard work on the mountains, their culture and customs, as well as offer insight into their life through some funny stories.
The centre-piece of the exhibition is the living area, just as it would be in everyday farming life. The customs are manifold and some of them are obscure. People’s beliefs and the religious methods used by mountain farmers often conquer natural powers.