When we talk about Sardinia, the collective imagination is filled with fantastic beaches, the sea of the Costa Smeralda and related clichés. But Sardinia is also, and much more, than a seaside destination: it is a land rich in history, art and living traditions. And Nuoro is perhaps its most authentic and vibrant cultural center.
Geographically located in the heart of Barbagia, this small city has proudly guarded its identity since the last century, nourishing an indigenous cultural substratum that evolves over time. The city that gave birth to Grazia Deledda, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, and then to Salvatore and Sebastiano Satta and today well represented by Marcello Fois and Salvatore Niffoi, Nuoro is today a dynamic hub that knows how to unite the memory of its roots with the language of contemporary art. The Sardinian Ethnographic Museum, the Deleddiano Museum and the MAN – Museum of Art of the Province of Nuoro – are the most evident testimonies of this.
The city is also the protagonist of events that keep alive the link with popular traditions, such as the Festa del Redentore, which every summer combines the sacred and folklore with processions in traditional dress and engaging shows. Also noteworthy is the Carnevale barbaricino, which involves several towns in Barbagia, each with its own masks and ancestral rites, but which finds one of the main stages in Nuoro.
In this context, Nuoro confirms itself as the beating heart of Sardinian culture, and the MAN is today (together with the beautiful museum ethnographic) one of the most authoritative exhibition centers in the Mediterranean. It is precisely here that one of the most interesting photographic exhibitions of the summer of 2025 came to life.
Credits Man Nuoro
“Isole minori”: the exhibition that tells an unseen Sardinia
Until November 16, 2025, the MAN hosts Isole Minori, a project curated by Walter Guadagnini and Giangavino Pazzola that offers a new visual representation of contemporary Sardinia. A journey that goes beyond the stereotypes of the “Edenic” or “backward” island to restore plurality, complexity and reality.
The itinerary winds through the works of sixteen great international photographers who have worked in Sardinia from 1990 to today. The main core of the exhibition is right in Nuoro: here we find the symbolic images of the crowded beaches of Massimo Vitali, the poetic landscapes of Bernard Plossu and the metaphysical ones of Mimmo Jodice. Sardinian identity, expressed through the face and the mask, is investigated by Salvatore Ligios and Charles Fréger.
But the exhibition goes beyond aesthetics: Vanessa Winship, George Georgiou and Marinella Senatore reflect on civil and social issues, from the concept of citizenship to marginality. Jacopo Benassi and Lorenzo Vitturi offer interpretations of the sense of isolation, evoking deep emotions linked to island living.
The exhibition continues in parallel in Cagliari, where the Galleria Comunale d’Arte delves into the relationship between photography and literature, thanks to the works of Arianna Arcara, Karla Hiraldo Voleau, Luca Spano and François-Xavier Gbré.
A doubleor an installation that, with intelligence and sensitivity, invites us to look at the island with new eyes.
© Mimmo Jodice, Punta Pedrosa,1998
Where to stay in Nuoro to visit the exhibition
If you are planning a visit to Nuoro to immerse yourself in Sardinian culture and discover this unmissable exhibition, the Felix Hotel Grandi Magazzini is the ideal choice. Centrally located, modern and comfortable, this hotel offers spacious rooms, elegant spaces, free parking and fast Wi-Fi.
Managed by Felix Hotels, a guarantee of quality and authentic hospitality, Grandi Magazzini is perfect for both short stays and more in-depth cultural experiences. Just a few minutes from the historic center and the main museums, it is an ideal starting point for exploring the surrounding area: Orgosolo, Mamoiada and Monte Ortobene.
Sardinia, an island to be experienced all year round
With this exhibition, Nuoro demonstrates once again how Sardinia is a land to be experienced well beyond seasonal tourism. Art, identity and narration come together in an experience that enriches the gaze and the heart. For those who really want to get to know the island, “Isole minori” is an opportunity not to be missed to visit an island that has much more to offer than the sun.
