Exchange of Services, Mutual Aid and Solidarity

In the native Italian villages, every individual was part of a tightly knit network of relationships based on trust and mutual respect, which bound them to the members of their family, relatives, neighbours and friends. This was manifested in the exchange of a host of services, in mutual aid and in various forms of solidarity: care of animals, assistance during childbirth, material and emotional support when someone died, etc.

These resources provided by friends and relatives were essential in a context of relative poverty, but they were also extremely helpful to immigrants who faced the difficulties inherent in adapting to a new country.

Today, even though improved economic conditions, residential dispersion and socio-economic differentiation have affected the intensity of social relationships, mutual aid, the exchange of services and solidarity among friends and relatives have remained latent customs that are called upon whenever they are needed.

El Mas-cio (The Pig) Made by Luigi Dal Grande Canada 1990s Wood, plastic, metal, textiles, paint Lent by Delia Dal Grande El mas-cio el jera lù el re de 'a casa, coparlo é "farlo sù" na' gran festa ostrega! Quante bone "pociade". (Venetian Dialect) "The pig was king of the castle. When it was slaughtered and its meat used for sausages and deli meats, there was a celebration. What a feast!" Some of the fondest memories of Italian immigrants are of the days when a pig was slaughtered and its meat prepared. Those were times when work was combined with pleasure. The diorama displayed here shows relatives, friends and neighbours gathered for the slaughter and the preparation of the various pork products (meat, fat, rind, blood, etc.).

	El Mas-cio (The Pig) (detail 1)

	El Mas-cio (The Pig) (detail 2)

El Vin (Wine) Made by Luigi Dal Grande Canada 1990s Wood, plastic, metal, clay, textiles, paint Lent by Delia Dal Grande Che "gusto" laòrare in "càneva" e mostáre co i "pie". La "vendema" che contentessa a impienare le sèste de "ua". (Venetian Dialect) "What a delight to extract the wine in the cellar and crush the grapes with your feet! What a joy to fill baskets with grapes at harvest time!" This diorama of the grape harvest and winemaking illustrates another highlight of the social calendar, depicted using work parties.

	El Vin (Wine) (detail 1)

	El Vin (Wine) (detail 2)