Sound as healing. Trauma of the diaspora and community-based listening in Joe Sannicandro’s performance in Colle Sannita (BN)

Our paper aims to investigate the potential of artistic practices co-designed with rural communities to stimulate collective reflection on the trauma of diaspora. Specifically, adopting the action research methodology and the theoretical framework of cultural welfare, the paper focused on analysing the artistic residency of Italian-American performer Joe Sannicandro in the rural village of Colle Sannita (Benevento). The study revealed how, through the pedagogy of listening, Joe Sannicandro’s experi-ence contributed to the symbolic reappropriation of the territory, metaphorically healing the pain caused by the trauma of diaspora linked to mass emigration and the depopulation of rural areas.