It is undeniable that the population of the Périgord in the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to the modernisation of the whole society, made progress in many areas: longer life expectancy, increased comfort, less strenuous work, leisure and holidays from the end of the 19th century, opening up of the territory and ease of travel, full employment in the 1960s.
After 200 years of evolution, as everywhere in France, the question of the limits of this « modernity » is increasingly being asked: rural exodus and intensive productivist agriculture in crisis, deindustrialisation and ageing of the population, uncontrolled landfills until the 1970s, loss of biodiversity, invasive animals and plants in development.
Fortunately, the inhabitants are forging new links with each other, with their heritage, with their environment and with the world, opening up new perspectives and a certain vision of the future of this territory: new agriculture, forestry, green tourism, gastronomy, Occitan renewal and culture.
Illustrations :
– Food shop closed since the 1980s in Mussidan. André Voulgre Museum
– Peugeot 403 car abandoned in a wood in Douzillac © Musée André Voulgre
– Amouroux Frères binder harvester made in Toulouse abandoned in a fallow field in Beauronne. André Voulgre Museum
– Soil-less strawberry crops in Beauregard and Bassac. André Voulgre Museum
– Longua factory closed since the 1980s on the banks of the Isle in Saint Médard de Mussidan © Musée André Voulgre
– Wheat harvest and preparation of organic bread from organic farmers and bakers on the lands of the shared farm « Terres de liens » from the Forge to Saint Hilaire d’Estissac. Manon Pouvreau and Clément Fleurenceau