the dates, the motto and the first anthem song in the history of the Award have been announced – Targatocn.it

The “Ostana Prize: writings in the mother tongue” is an appointment with the mother tongues of the world which every year brings together native language authors from all over the world in Ostana. The Award, which is a celebration dedicated to linguistic diversity in the world, to linguistic rights and to the biodiversity of which languages ​​are historical bearers, returns for its XVI edition from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June 2024as always in the multifunctional center of the Miribrart district.

“The fuec es encà ros dessot la brasa…” (D. Anghilante – S. Sodano) is the motto that will accompany the Award this year, and is taken from a song composed in the 70s which was one of the elements that favored the awakening of conscience and love for language of oc of which until then there was no great awareness.

“The fire is still red under the embers” because the mother tongues are living being, not only because they live but because they don’t want to die, they fight to survive from generation to generation. Mother tongues offer unique and unrepeatable visions of the world, developing authentic and original thoughts that stand out strongly when they allow their creativity to emerge and also enter into dialogue with so-called “majority” cultural and linguistic realities.

“The fire is still red under the embers” because mother tongues work in the shadows, invisible in their daily operations, but crucial in every social context, essential in every human experience, significant within every personal and cultural relationship. UNESCO recognized the richness they represent by proclaiming the “International Decade for Indigenous Languages ​​2022-2032”: the Ostana Award immediately followed the initiative and its value was also recognized by important international networks that deal with linguistic diversity and by the Head of State Mattarella who in 2018 awarded the Award the Representation Medal of the President of the Republic.

In its history the Prize has so far given voice to 88 authors of 47 languages ​​from all 5 continentsconsolidating a real international network of authors, enthusiasts and supporters of linguistic diversity which make Ostana a point of reference throughout the world. For this reason, on the occasion of the 16th edition, the Award inaugurates the multilingual sitein which you can also find information content in English.

For the 16th edition, for the first time, the 2024 Ostana Prize will have a song-hymn.

The motto of the XVI edition of the Ostana Prize was taken from “LO FUEC ES ENCÀ ROS”, a song written in the 1970s by Dario Anghilante and Sergio Sodano: minorities can be in very distant places and not be connected to each other, but they still find themselves facing similar problems, which is why every tongue has a fire still burning under the embers. The song was very significant for the awareness of the Piedmontese Alpine Occitan valleys and, half a century later, the Ostana Prize decided to have it played with a new voice.

“We want to make it global because all the mother languages ​​of the world have a fire still burning, an ember that in some cases struggles to shine, in others it is constantly fueled – he comments Ines Cavalcantiartistic director –. We think there is a need to deal with all these embers so that they are a sign for linguistic consciousness everywhere in the world”.

The song was re-arranged by Ostana Prize Artistic Collective, a working group that has been animating and following the Ostana Prize for its performative part for years (Paola Bertello, Flavio Giacchero, Luca Pellegrino, Marzia Rey). The group’s intent is to update the piece by giving it a new, rhythmic and sunny look, using some of the stylistic features of the traditional world starting from the polyvocality that represents a choral world, as is also the work behind the Ostana Prize .

The teaser video of LO FUEC ES ENCÀ ROS is available on the Award’s YouTube channel:

The full program will be announced in May

The event is structured into eight sections: Special Prize, International Prize, Historical Linguistic Minorities in Italy Prize, Occitan Language Prize, Youth Prize, Translation Prize, Musical Composition Prize, Cinema Prize. Eight categories for eight artists who, accompanied by a tutor, will spend the days of 28-29-30 June in Ostana in the company of the public in an atmosphere of exchange and convivéncia. The complete program, with all the awarded artists and their stories, will be announced in May.

The “Ostana Prize: writings in the mother tongue – escrituras en lenga maire” is created by Chambra d’ocpromoted and supported by: Piedmont Region, Municipality of Ostana, CRC Foundation, CRT Foundation, ATL Cuneo, CIRDOC, Pen club Occitan, Babel Film Festival, Viso a Viso Community Cooperative.