Friuli 1976: rebuilding a community

On the evening of 6 May 1976, shortly before 9 pm, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck central Friuli and the foothill areas, killing nearly 1,000 people and destroying entire villages. Further tremors that September compounded the devastation. In the aftermath, the region embarked on one of the most remarkable reconstruction efforts in its history. Led by mayors and local authorities, the recovery was driven by the active involvement of local communities and supported by thousands of volunteers from across Italy and abroad. This experience came to be known as the Friuli model, which continues to serve as a model for emergency response and management today.

Fifty years after the earthquake, the Società Filologica Friulana (Friulian Philological Society) launched an initiative to gather photographs from family archives, inviting its members to share images preserved in family albums and kept in their homes over the years. The aim was to build an archive documenting the reconstruction through a process of collecting and sharing that gave local residents an active role in shaping the story. The photographs became a starting point for bringing individual stories, memories and personal accounts to light, linking individual experiences to the collective memory of the region.

Grana Fina developed the project and oversaw the collection, carrying out the digitisation and description of the photographs. For each image, the team recorded information supplied by the donors, including where and when it was taken, who appears in it and the circumstances surrounding its creation. So far, the collection includes photographs from the areas of Pontebba, Tarcento and Osoppo, among other places. These are not professional photographs, but personal records that had remained tucked away in family albums and drawers for decades. The project shifts the focus from destruction to reconstruction, from the devastation left by the earthquake to the gradual return of everyday life: men and women at work, schools reopening in temporary tent classrooms, construction sites, villages coming back to life and community gatherings. Particular attention is given to the bonds formed between the volunteers who travelled to Friuli in the aftermath of the earthquake and the local population. The photographs thus document not only how the region changed, but also the ties of solidarity, cooperation and friendship that developed during this period.

The donors also contributed to the project by sharing their personal accounts. Some were invited to talk about the stories behind the photographs they had submitted, resulting in three video interviews. The images thus became a means of unlocking memories, recounting past events and connecting individual experiences. Together, these different voices weave a shared account, with each contribution adding another piece to the story and bringing the photographs to life. The result is an ongoing, growing archive that brings together photographs, slides and personal testimonies to document the experience of reconstruction. Through this process of sharing, family collections have become part of a shared documentary heritage, where the photographs take on new meanings through the stories of those who have preserved them and those who see their own experiences reflected in them.

The project is available online at Teche Friulane – Friuli 76.