“In December 1997 the Time in Jazz Cultural Association was officially established, not without difficulties. […]
At last my dream had come true. The act had done justice to a history that was my own but also belonged to a group of volunteers who for over ten years had made Time in Jazz great, thanks to the commitment from them, the town of Berchidda, and its people.”
—Paolo Fresu, Time in Jazz (published by Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, 2017)
The Time in Jazz Cultural Association puts on the international festival by the same name as well as other cultural events held in Sardinia and elsewhere.
The president and artistic director of Time in Jazz is trumpet player and composer Paolo Fresu, one of the greatest figures on the international jazz scene.
Founded ten years after the introduction of the festival, the association is run by professionals from various fields and by volunteers who over the last thirty years have contributed to its growth.
The volunteers at Time in Jazz are the driving force behind all the activities, and they contribute to the creation of events which over the years have turned Berchidda into the beating heart of a lively, vital cultural endeavor.
In addition to the volunteers, the association’s members include spectators, inhabitants of the towns where the initiatives are held, tourists and many friends of the festival.
Since 2018, the association’s new members have become Time in Jazz citizens and can therefore actively contribute to the life of the association.
There are three different ways to live within the festival: as a citizen out of curiosity, a citizen out of loyalty and finally as a citizen out of unconditional love.
The campaign completes the initiative of “honorary citizenship” which since 2017 has been bestowed upon the festival’s historic spectators, artists, volunteers and friends.
Other Projects
In addition to the international Time in Jazz festival, which is held every year in the ten days around Ferragosto in mid-August, over the years the association has held the following initiatives:
Altri Tempi, a festival centered around cinema, theater and music.
Shortime, a recurring event that concentrates over the course of a single day a series of brief events featuring music, theater, dance and contemporary art, one after the other at the same location.
La prima rondine, concert-events in which jazz meets pop. Featured guests include: Giuliano Sangiorgi, Raphael Gualazzi, Paola Turci and Musica Nuda.
P.A.V. (Progetto Arti Visive), a research and experimentation project in contemporary visual arts through the preparation of exhibits, installations and performances both during the festival and on other occasions over the course of the year. Thanks to P.A.V.’s activities, the Time in Jazz cultural association now owns and preserves a private collection of contemporary works of art.
Semida: Museo all’aperto del Monte Limbara, one of P.A.V.’s initiatives. This is an environmental art museum located in Berchidda’s state-owned forestland Monte Limbara Sud.
CasArte: Preserved in the association’s headquarters is the Time in Jazz Cultural Association’s permanent art collection, which brings together important works of visual art donated by artists who’ve exhibited them over the years in Berchidda.
The Time in Jazz Cultural Association has also been featured in a series of national and international cultural projects, including:
Jazz Rail – Trains, stations, art and jazz in Italy’s historic natural environments and landscapes, an initiative that aims to foster an appreciation of historic locations connected to travel – trains, stations, railways – in Piedmont, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Marche, Puglia and Sardinia, and involves various cultural associations.
I luoghi del Jazz, a project dedicated to the appreciation of artistic residences and locations coordinated by partner organizations, and to the constitution of thematic networks structured around artistic and creative hubs. The project involves seven of Italy’s largest associations, coordinated by the Time in Jazz Cultural Association of Berchidda: the Spaziomusica Cultural Association of Ancona, the Polyphonia Association of Lucca, the Locomotive Musical Cultural Association of Sogliano Cavour, Onyx Jazz Club of Matera, the Rest-Art Cultural Association of Novara and the Musica Moderna Cultural Association of Thiene.
JazzIsland for UNESCO, an initiative of the Comitato Giovani della Commissione Nazionale Italiana dell’UNESCO, which decided to embrace the values of the Giornata Internazionale del Jazz by supporting its promotion with events spread across the nation, thanks also to the support and collaboration of Paolo Fresu, UNESCO Youth Committee Ambassador.
In 2016, in Sardinia, Time In Jazz, Isole che Parlano, Nuoro Jazz and Sulla Terra Leggeri joined the committee to celebrate this day and make it reflect the sensibilities and identity of our island, where for thirty years jazz has played a starring role thanks to numerous events that have made it a preferential language in expressing the land and a special way to experience it.
In 2018 the collaboration continued with focus on music and the environment by involving locations of extraordinary beauty, such as the islands of Asinara and Tavolara, and urban centers from past and present history – Alghero, Nuoro and Barumini – an arrangement celebrating beauty and harmony, and a combination underlining the importance of culture in our history and the universal value it represents.
GreenFEST, a project co-financed by the EU project LIFE: Environmental Governance and Information. The project aims to spread the good practices for Green Public Procurement already in place in Italy for the adoption of minimum environmental criteria in the sector of cultural activities financed, promoted or managed by public entities. For further information: greenfest.eu
The Association’s Venues
In recent years, an important commitment for the Time in Jazz Cultural Association has been the restoration of two industrial dairies in Berchidda which until not long ago were important in the economic and social history of the small town in Logudoro.
La Casara
Located on the town’s main road, the large building now acts as the association’s headquarters, hosts temporary exhibits, and is home to CasArte, the association’s permanent contemporary art collection.
Il Centro Laber
Located a few hundred meters from La Casara, the Centro Laber will become, once the current restoration and upgrades are completed, a multifunctional production center for performances and visual, musical and performing arts.
With over 3000 square meters of usable space, the four-story complex is a versatile place in which to work, create and do research for the production of theatrical, musical and choral performances and everything connected to them (stage design, costumes, soundtracks, etc.).