Feriae Matricularum of Elio Del Piano: from the Vitae Goliardorum to the Institutional Memory of the University

Abstract

The article starts from the assumption that the valorisation practices implemented by archives and film libraries through putting amateur films online represent a privileged means of accessing the past. On the other hand, the awareness that such practices do not simply end with online accessibility invites us to pursue similar valorisation paths, arguing for the need to interrogate and revitalise amateur documents so that they are not lost in the accumulation of content on the web. Through the analysis of the film Feriae Matricularum made by cineamateur Elio Del Piano in the early 1950s, the article explores the new historical-memorial orientations that such materials can take on when reactivating the potential of the memory-archive of which they are part. More precisely, thanks to the comparison with other archival documentation, the case study allows us to reconstruct a precise ideology of university student life and, at the same time, to demonstrate how even amateur materials can be taken on as sources to delineate institutional memory, specifically of the University of Cagliari.