Caminanti (the walkers), the wandering Sicilians by Arianna Todisco

Public Story

Caminanti (the walkers), the wandering Sicilians

Copyright Arianna Todisco 2024

Updated Mar 2021

Topics Adolescence, Anthropology, Borders, Children, Community, Confrontation, Conservation, Discrimination, Documentary, Dreams, Editorial, Education, Energy, Family, Fine Art, Freedom, Friends + Family, Happiness, Health/Healing, Home, Landscape, Lifestyle, Love, Media, Mental Illness, Migration, Minority, Oppression, Pandemics, Parenting & Family, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Relationships, Religion, Street, Teens, Travel, Youth

“Caminanti”, derives from the Sicilian term “camminanti”, which it means “the walkers”. Sellers of inflatable balloons and toy makers crowd the village festivals and are Italians in all respects. They don't want to be called Rom. But they keep the old nomadic spirit.They are considered the greatest walkers in history, scattered in the range between Catania, Agrigento and Syracuse, but during the winter they crowd a historic district of Noto, which bears their name. The "wandering Sicilians" are the last heirs of a culture based on movement, but they have made local traditions their own, favoring the birth of a colorful mix of lifestyles. Today, in a post-pandemic context, the walkers prefer the life of their resident countrymen, called "sedentary villagers", choosing not to stray too far from Noto. With the spread of the covid increasingly growing in the area of the Noto valley, it has become very difficult for walkers to give voice to their nomadic spirit, nomadic like the balloons they sell, they are forced to lock themselves up at home to safeguard their own safety and that of others, however, putting at risk a tradition that has never been broken.

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