Basilicata traditions:
Thirty years have gone by since Piovene, in his description of Basilicata, wrote that this poor region, despite its disadvantages, emits an authentically witty, sharp intelligence. The proud Lucanians have always maintained their own cultural identity, based both on solid traditions and their hospitable character. This pride and determination are fundamental to the survival of these people. Political domination and suppression have never defeated them and they have always been able to rise to their feet again even though their changeable land continues to be difficult to cultivate. The Lucanians have fought bitterly to retain it and when forced to leave never went very far from it.

Many Lucanians today hold prestigious positions, above all in education and the arts. Perhaps this is because intellectual studies represent a challenge and the possibility to rise above the status of the 'southern peasant'. Nevertheless, the people carry the land inside them; this land so drenched with light that it cannot be forgotten.
It is a land that has witnessed the birth of such important poets as Horace, Isabella Morra, Luigi Tansillo, Rocco Scotellaro, Albino Pierro, Michele Parrella, and Leonardo Sinisgalli.

 

There are also the men of letters: Tommaso Stigliani, Giuseppe de Robertis and Carlo Salinari, along with the philosopher Emilio Paolo Lamanna and the jurists Mario Pagano and Emanuele Gianturco; historians like Giacomo Racioppi and Govanni Battista Bronzini; southern intellectuals Giustino Fortunato, Francesco Saverio Nitti and Ettore Ciccotti, or medical researchers like Rocco Mazzarone; the archaeologists Domenico Ridola, Michele La Cava and Vittorio de Cicco; as well as the composers Gesualdo da Venosa and Egidio Romualdo Duni. Many others have studied or represented this land: the archaeologists François Lenormant, Eleanora Bracco and even more Dinu Adamesteanu and the art historian Emile Bertaux; other southerners like Salvemini or Zanotti Bianco or Carlo Levi (political-detainee); and anthropologists, ethnologists and urban planners or intellectuals like Adriano Olivetti, Manlio Rossi Doha, Ernesto De Martino, Edward Banfield, Frederick G. Friedmann, Luigi Piccinato and Ludovico Quaroni.

From this immense anthropological observatory, it is the family that emerges as the primary source of wealth for the individual in rural society. Today the exterior manifestations have disappeared while the fundamental values of solidarity and hospitality remain. For several decades 'circoli culturali' (culture clubs) have carried out an important role in the development of culture, stimulating knowledge and an enhancement of the region. More recently, the University of Basilicata has created new incentives for researching the characteristic cultural roots. A most positive experience is the 'International Sculpture Exhibit in the Rupestrian Churches'. This event, arising from a cultural need and for more than ten years involving important artists, is of merit both for the beauty of the environment and the accurate selection of the works of art on display.

One of the fundamental events in Lucanian society is the 'festa popolare' (local village festival), which even today carries out a very important cohesive role in the region. Without doubt, the most extraordinary thing about these festivals is the unconditional participation by everyone. The festivals witness the return of the emigrant to his 'paese' (native village) to participate in activities that are most often rooted in pre-Christian rituals.
Many of these festivals are divided among religious and pagan motifs like those that give thanks for the harvest and ask for a prosperous year to come.

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