The Stazione dell’Arte can be found just outside the town of Ulassai, and is the museum-foundation dedicated entirely to the work of Maria Lai.
The idea of the Stazione dell’arte stems from a performance by the artist from Ulassai, Legarsi alla montagna in 1981, when Maria Lai metaphorically and literally linked the town of Ulassai and its inhabitants to Mount Tisiddu, with a blue ribbon. The purpose of the work was not only to place the inhabitants and town in communication with one another but to have them interact with one another.
Subsequently, Maria Lai decided to leave around one hundred and forty works to the town of Ulassai which now make up most of the exhibition at the Stazione dell’Arte. The museum spaces, opened in 2006, were created inside the town’s former railway station which was decommissioned in 1956.
The choice of this place is no coincidence as Maria Lai’s work focuses on communication, bonds, departure and return. Indeed, the artist left Sardinia for about ten years following a bereavement. She only returned in 1979, when she began to devise her project of conversation with her homeland.
During her artistic career, Maria Lai would use materials such as threads, fabrics, books and the weaving technique for this purpose, in a continuous twist of intrigues and stories.
The museum does not display all the collection’s works simultaneously, but periodically organises exhibitions of the artist’s work, each time with a particular theme.
