Marco delogu is an acclaimed italian photographer, author, and curator whose work spans portraiture, documentary, and nature photography. He is the visionary founder of Punctum Press, the Fotografia – International Festival of Rome, and the annual Photo Solstice on Asinara islandin Sardinia.
delogu's photographic research is renowned for its focus on portraits of individuals sharing common experiences and languages. his major projects have included cardinals, palio di siena jockeys, prison inmates, contemporary classical composers, farmers, sardinian shepherds, and writers. in recent years, his artistic output has increasingly focused on the theme of nature and landscape.
he has authored more than twenty books and his work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums across the globe, including the centre georges pompidou in paris, the french academy at villa medici in rome, the warburg institute in london, and the musée de l'elysée in lausanne.
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The Island of Culuccia was until 1996 owned by the Sanna family, a family of landowners known throughout Gallura.
From 1923 to 1996, the only inhabitant of the island was Angelo Sanna, known to everyone as Ziu Agnuleddu. He arrived at Culuccia after abandoning his job as a postal officer in Santa Teresa and retired, like a hermit, to his island, where he lived with a dog and a mare. Without running water, electric light or other 'devilries' of modernity, as he called them.
Ziu Agnuleddu lived on the island raising pigs, kids and cows, receiving bookings for his livestock from Porto Pozzo, San Pasquale, Santa Teresa and Palau. The Culuccia kids were considered the best in Gallura because the island's upland pasture made their meat particularly tasty. The island was also a self-managed hunting reserve; the hunts were an opportunity for Ziu Agnuleddu to maintain a network of political, military and social relations at the highest level. The rules laid down by Ziu Agnuleddu were very strict: only people invited by him could participate, each guest was told which territory to hunt in and the number of partridges and hares that could be shot was indicated. Any person, including politicians and military personnel, who did not follow his instructions was turned away without so much as a pleasantry.
Given the size of Culuccia Ziu Agnuleddu always moved around on horseback and in many photos he is portrayed with his mare, dog and rifle. To move from the island he had two boats: a chiattino used mainly for fishing and a wooden gozzo he used to go to La Maddalena or Santa Teresa; both boats were kept in a bay still called 'Lu Portu di Ziu Agnuleddu.
In the 1950s, Ziu Agnuleddu planted the 'Vigna in Puntata' vineyard with native Gallurese vines: Vermentino, Pascàle di Cagliari and Nieddu Addosu. In the 1960s, Culuccia Island attracted the attentions of many investors interested in buying it to develop a tourism project complementary to the Costa Smeralda, but Sanna rejected, regardless of their importance, all the proposals that were submitted to him.
From 1970, Ziu Agnuleddu lived on the island in the company of Mrs Angela Fais, and the following year his mother was joined by his twin sons, whom Ziu Agnuleddu took care of by putting them through school and also introducing them to the world of work. In 1985, following the victory of a civic list headed by a friend of Ziu Agnuleddu in all the town-planning instruments of the municipality of Santa Teresa, Culuccia Island was declared a total environmental respect zone.
On his death at the age of 94, as indicated in his will, the Culuccia property and all that was on it became the property of the Italian Association for Cancer Research.
From 1998 to 2017 the island was owned by two wealthy Italian families. On 17 April 2017, Marco Boglione became the sole owner of Culuccia Island.
BIRU Srl Agricola was born from the desire of Stella and Marco Boglione to revive the Island of Culuccia through the production of high quality agri-food products, respecting nature, the landscape and the history of the island.
Culuccia, also known as Isola delle Vacche (Island of the Cows), has remained semi-deserted and in a state of abandonment for 35 years, during which time the Mediterranean maquis has covered much of it.
The work of enhancing the island was undertaken by Stella and Marco with the valuable collaboration of their friend Luciano Molino, an entrepreneur and Gallurese DOC.
The first intervention concerned the reopening of the old paths and 15 km of unpaved roadways. For the precise identification of these roads, now overgrown with vegetation, the Allied Forces' aerial photographs taken at the time of the end of World War II proved invaluable.
The total surface area of the island is about 300 hectares, including two stazzi. There are numerous fences, shelters and drinking troughs for animals, some vegetable gardens and two vineyards that will gradually be restored to their original functions.
Oil, myrtle, gin, wine, honey and beef, oysters and other seafood will be the jewels in the crown of Culuccia's production.
Marco Delogu, Culuccia
Hardcover 29x36 cm, 104 pages, Basics Edizioni
isbn 978-8895-410-60-9
