– Chiara Gatti –

Our museum has grown. Research has expanded, activities have increased, and so have its collections. It needed more space — and we found it on the main street. In the premises overlooking the heart of the city, which MAN now intends to inhabit, enliven, and energize with a program of initiatives aimed at engaging a different audience — one not always used to turning the corner to come and find us.

Thanks to the sensitivity and vision of the President of the Region, Alessandra Todde, who approved funding for the acquisition of the space — supported also by the Province of Nuoro and its President, Giuseppe Ciccolini — the building in Corso Garibaldi officially becomes a spin-off, or rather, a branch or gem of the museum, which is expanding its cultural reach beyond the traditional boundaries of its history.

For this reason, steering away from the countless epithets that over time have christened a place orphaned of identity, we decided to infuse its cold, impersonal rooms with the imagination that has guided us this year in exploring archipelagos both near and far. An island, then — the Island of MAN — a poetic allusion to a real geographical landing, a fixed point on a liquid map, an allegory of untamed nature and, at the same time, a tangible destination, guardian of an ancient memory yet vital on the chessboard of today’s sea routes traced in the open waters.

While we await the long-awaited opening of the building in Piazza Satta — after two decades of stop-and-go procedures — which we no longer see as an island but rather as a mirage, these spaces will host workshops, public talks, dossier exhibitions, new narratives, and new acquisitions. Among them are recent donations that enrich an already significant collection of Sardinian artworks, as well as a core of next-generation pieces created by artists hosted by the museum — interpreters of contemporary languages.

The Island of MAN, therefore, has precise coordinates. Yet it remains an uncharted territory — a place to experiment with new forms of community inspired by art and by that universal culture which gives oxygen to our vision and, in turn, is itself invigorated by shared experiences.

The call to all voyagers is an invitation to take part, to listen, and to tell stories. The island is a harbor — and as such, it welcomes, mingles, intertwines, connects, and never turns anyone away.