On Friday, June 27, 2025, the inauguration of the exhibition “Not to forget” took place in Demonte (CN), created by the Antenati Piemontesi research group, made up of genealogy enthusiasts active between Italy and France.

The group has dedicated over fifteen years to the collection of testimonies and materials that give voice to the stories of emigration that have profoundly marked the history of the Stura Valley.

Thanks to the collaboration with the Cultural Association Amici di Demonte, the Municipality of Demonte and the Unione Montana Valle Stura, the project has created new opportunities for cultural exchange between the two nations, to which Italea Piemonte – Radici Piemontesi ETS has contributed with enthusiasm.

The exhibition is organized on 20 panels in Italian and French which, through stories of emigration, document the journey and integration of Piedmontese families into new communities, in France and elsewhere. It represents an opportunity to rediscover the roots of a historical phenomenon – emigration – which has involved numerous families in the valley and beyond.

The inauguration was attended by Marco Bernardi, genealogist representative of the Piedmontese Ancestors group for the Italian part and Jeanine Pessione, coordinator of the group for the Aix-en-Provence area, Barbara Albis of Italea Piemonte and numerous French people of Piedmontese origin and inhabitants of the Stura Valley, with many stories to tell of intertwining between Piedmont and France.

The exhibition is enjoying good success with the public, so much so that it is already scheduled to be set up at the Forte di Vinadio from 24 July and then the subsequent transfer to France, to Aix-en-Provence, next autumn.