Alea

«After the initial disorientation that, to be honest, had weakened our first attempts to explore the Lands Between, we tried to reorganize the entire editorial project, guided by an intuition that was, in a sense, paradoxical: the escape velocity from the dimensional upheaval of the Long Goodbye was immobility. Written on the whiteboard, the equation of the Long Goodbye gave us not a solution but a breach of understanding. We needed the courage to stay put, to take a grounded, immovable position, to hold a gaze carved into the precariousness of time».

The editorial of Alea Issue No.1 – The Long Goodbye is online on our website – check the link in bio. Read it now and purchase your copy of the magazine.

Francesco Danesi della Sala holds a PhD in Cultural and Social Anthropology. His research focuses primarily on environmental issues and the climate crisis. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the seismic crater of central Italy and in the Po River Delta. He serves as editor-in-chief of Alea – Independent Journal of Anthropological Practices. In 2025, he published Nature ribelli. Viaggio nella metamorfosi climatica alle foci del Po (Wetlands).

The Long Goodbye is available in our shop: alemag.com

Sabato 13 Dicembre torneremo in Val di Scalve per presentare il documentario breve realizzato nell'ambito del nostro reportage etnografico “Glen: viaggio nella valle sommersa”. La proiezione e l'incontro si terranno presso il Palazzo Pretorio di Vilminore di Scalve, sede della comunità montana locale. Vi aspettiamo dalle ore 17.00.

Dalla redazione: Francesco Danesi della Sala / Chiara Generali / Diego Oberti

L’evento fa parte di un progetto sviluppato grazie al Bando Territorio e Cultura 2025, con il contributo della Provincia di Bergamo. L’iniziativa è patrocinata da: Comune di Vilminore di Scalve / Comunità montana della Val di Scalve / Comitato per il Centenario del Gleno.

It is said that the name Gleno derives from the Gaelic glen, meaning ‘narrow glacial valley’. Yet, in Val di Scalve, the name carries a meaning far beyond topography. In Val di Scalve, Gleno is a deep wound.

Through an ethnographic reportage by Francesco Danesi della Sala and Pasquale Menditto, and an archival visual itinerary curated by Chiara Generali, we explored the history of the Gleno dam, which collapsed in 1923, submerging an entire valley and the communities who lived there. It is a fieldwork-based project that weaves cultural memory together with the social and environmental challenges of the present, where conflicting ecological and identity-driven visions collide—from the economic ambitions of large development plans to attempts at revitalising an extremely rich and heterogeneous cultural fabric.

To read more, pre-order your copy of Alea Issue No. 1 – The Long Goodbye:
→ www.aleamag.com

This project was developed within the Bando Territorio e Cultura 2025, with the support of the Province of Bergamo. Special thanks to the Comunità Montana of Val di Scalve and the Committee for the Centenary of Gleno for their collaboration and support.

Pre-orders for Alea – Issue No. 1 ‘The Long Goodbye’ are now open. This issue inaugurates a new cycle for the magazine, now published annually in a fully bilingual Italian–English edition. The Long Goodbye is a journey into the twilight Interregnum in which we seem to be trapped—caught between the ruins of a past that continues to haunt the present and the glimpses of alternative futures emerging within our collective imaginaries.

▸ Pre-order link in bio – free shipping within Italy throughout the month of December!
▸ Publication date: 19 December.
▸ Orders will be shipped after the Christmas holidays to avoid logistical delays.

Contributions by: Lorenzo Alunni, Elisa Nocentini, Kaitlan Bui, Benedetta Onnis, Federico Nastasi, Julio César García, Jatin Dua, Cush Rodríguez Moz, Luisa T. Schneider, Anastasiia Omelianiuk, Mir Fatimah Kanth, Iacopo Nassigh, Francesca Morra, Claudia Squarzon, Silvio Mottolese, Vera Lazzaretti, Uyen Dang, David Rypel.

Our sincere thanks go to the mountain community of the Scalve Valley and to Stefano Albrici for their invaluable collaboration. A special thanks to Matteo Nanni for his support with the translation work.

With the support of the Province of Bergamo, through the Culture and Territory Grant, for the production of an ethnographic reportage in the Scalve Valley.

Cover artwork by artist and photographer Federica Natali – the original photograph was printed using the cyanotype technique and then digitally scanned.

Pre-order your copy: https://www.aleamag.com/product/alea-no-1---the-long-goodbye

Design: Studio Bagliore / Diego Oberti

Per il nuovo numero di Alea “Il lungo addio” accogliamo nella sezione Fieldwords brevi testi tratti da esperienze etnografiche di ricerca sul campo. Vogliamo vivere i luoghi della ricerca con i vostri occhi, entrare in contatto con i vostri pensieri e le vostre emozioni. Raccontateci le vostre attività di ricerca attraverso le pagine del diario di campo: aneddoti personali, difficoltà, imprevisti e bizzarrie di ogni tipo.

I contributi potranno avere una lunghezza massima di 400 parole e dovranno essere accompagnati da un massimo di 3 fotografie originali, insieme a una breve nota biografica.

Deadline: 10 ottobre

Invia il tuo contributo a:
→ [email protected]

Per maggiori informazioni:
→ [email protected]

***

For the new issue of Alea, “The Long Goodbye”, we welcome short texts in the Fieldwords section, drawn from ethnographic fieldwork experiences. We want to see research sites through your eyes, to get in touch with your thoughts and emotions. Share your field diary with us: personal anecdotes, challenges, unexpected turns, and oddities of all kinds.

Submissions should be no longer than 400 words and accompanied by up to 3 original photographs, along with a short biographical note.

Deadline: 10 October

Send your texts to:
→ [email protected]

For more information:
→ [email protected]

📸: Macchu Picchu, Nicoletta Matera, 1979.