Museo del Giocattolo tradizionale della Sardegna

Visit

Discover the Magic of the Sardinian Traditional Toy: A Journey through Time among History, Culture and Crafts in the Heart of Zeppara.

The Museo del Giocattolo Tradizionale of Sardinia represents a valuable reference point for the enhancement and dissemination of the island’s play heritage. Inaugurated on December 14, 2002, in Zeppara, a small hamlet in the municipality of Ales (OR), it has its roots in an initiative started in 1993 by Nando Cossu, a teacher of literature at the local State Middle School.

The idea was born to involve a class of 22 pupils in afternoon educational activities and through the cooperation of their families, especially the elderly. Together they began researching and making traditional toys. The quantity of materials was such that, at the end of the school year, it was decided to set up an exhibition at the Industrial Technical Institute in Ales. The event attracted the attention of professors from the Institute of Folk Traditions of the ‘ University of Cagliari, who offered scientific support. The exhibition later moved to Cagliari in May 1996, achieving considerable success.

For about three years, the collection continued to be on display at the school, but management difficulties led to its transfer to the municipality of Ales, which pledged to enhance these precious objects through the creation of a dedicated museum. Thus was born the Museum of the Traditional Toy of Sardinia, a place that not only celebrates the history and culture of play, but also helps keep local traditions alive for future generations.

Institutional section

Discipline
of the museum

Mission
Museum goals

The Museum of Traditional Toys of Sardinia shares and embraces the definition given by ICOM (International Council of Museums), according to which, “A museum is a permanent, nonprofit institution, at the service of society and its development, open to the public, which carries out research on
material evidence of man and his environment, acquires, preserves, communicates and above all exhibits it for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment.”

The Museo del Giocattolo tradizionale della Sardegna does not want to be a mere passive container but an active mechanism, capable of offering a cultural proposal that meets the needs of both children and adults, a museum for all, open to dialogue with other institutions and cultural realities, with different artistic and craft expressions, a living and empathic reality capable of engaging the visitor, encouraging reflections and creating circularity.

The museum itinerary intends to spread knowledge of the construction techniques used to make traditional Sardinian toys, recounting their diffusion, uses and anecdotes. It also intends to activate synergistic dialogues with the works hosted in temporary exhibitions that draw on the extraordinary historical and contemporary regional, national and international artistic and craft production.