In 1887 an earthquake severley damaged Bussana Vecchia, the Italian village near San Remo. As a result the old "borgo" was abandoned and all of its buildings declared dangerous.
About seventy years later, two Italian artists discovered its uniqueness and potential and decided to found the International Artist Community of Bussana Vecchia. As there were no property titles, we the artists restored the ruins to houses – from rubble and with no capital.
Since than Bussana Vecchia is called the "Borgo Degli Artisti".
For more than half a century, it has demonstrated that, despite not belonging to any formal institution, unwanted ruins can be transformed into a livable place – tailor-made to residents’ needs and providing them with a means of generating income.
Unfortunately, since 2015, Italian authorities are scrutinizing our community, demanding to make the place safer for visiting tourists. The administration from Genova has sent word to all of us, that they do not accept the status of Bussana Vecchia anymore. No wonder, that we the "Bussanesi" are frightened about the future of the Community of Artists.

Leonard Sommer – who is part of the Community since 1971 – is trying to summarize the injustice that had been faced to the people of the Italian Artist Village. Together with The Royal Film Company from London, he would love to bring attention especially to the actual situation. We still hope, that one day, our community will be treated as residents instead of occupiers.

Thanks for your attention.