Sardinia Cultural Heritage Project

The Sardinia Cultural Heritage Project is a multi-year program focused on the rich and unique heritage of the island of Sardinia, a cultural gem in the Mediterranean basin with a peerless natural environment. The project illuminates little-known aspects and spreads awareness of this remarkable place that played an important role in Mediterranean prehistory and history.

The Project was conceived by Barbara Faedda, the Academy’s Executive Director, and Paolo Carta, Professor at the University of Trento and member of the Academy’s Executive Committee. It is funded by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, in collaboration with the Mont'e Prama Foundation. The Academy draws partly on the expertise of faculty from the University of Cagliari and the University of Sassari. 

This Project is under the umbrella of the Academy’s International Observatory for Cultural Heritage, which sponsors and encourages research on monuments, artifacts, and traditions. 

Conferences, exhibitions, and publications on the archaeology, art, and culture of Sardinia bring an audience from New York and across the U.S. (see links below, in the "Updates" section). 

• The Project launched with a series of initiatives on the archeological site of Mont'e Prama and its dozens of stone figures that were found by chance in the 1970s—towering statues that are among the most important international archaeological discoveries of the last fifty years. A conference and two exhibitions on the ancient city of Tharros were presented in the second year of the program; in the third year, the Project focused on the UNESCO Site at Barumini and Nuragic culture in Sardinia. In 2025, the Academy invited the public to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the stunning discovery of the colossal Mont’e Prama statues.
• With Columbia University Press, the Academy has begun producing a series of books about Sardinia's heritage.
• Perhaps most notably, thousands of visitors to N.Y.'s Metropolitan Museum of Art saw a colossal Sardinian statue in the entry hall in 2023; the Academy was instrumental in obtaining the loan of this 3000-year-old figure from Mont’e Prama.