#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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Exhibitions

"Building Bridges Among Communities"

National Geographic Photo Camp

September 5-19, 2023

The National Geographic Photo Camp is a program that teaches young people from diverse communities how to use photography to tell their own stories, explore the world around them, and develop deep connections with others. The second National Geographic Photo Camp in Moldova took place on May 15-19, 2023, in the city of Comrat within the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. This region in southern Moldova is home to most of the Gagauz community as well as other ethnic groups such as Bulgarians, Ukrainians, and Moldovans/Romanians.

The five-day training was moderated by an international team of four photographers, including one from Ukraine. These experts provided 20 young people (aged 18-25) from refugee communities from Ukraine, the Transnistrian region, and throughout the country with a range of innovative tools and techniques for visual storytelling. This camp also built media literacy skills by giving participants the opportunity to experience firsthand how various factors within their control as creators of visual images (e.g. composition, light, color, mood, etc.) affect the story those images convey.

The young people documented a range of local experiences, traditional museums, family events, the only thoroughbred horse breeding farm in Moldova, the everyday work of carpet weavers, wineries, farmers, bakers, and markets. Guided by National Geographic photographers, the young people created more than 30,000 visual stories, some of which are presented in this exhibition. Feedback from previous camps that Internews and National Geographic have conducted in other countries and environments around the world (including in post-conflict societies, refugee camps, etc.) demonstrates that participants are able to think more critically about how photographs shape viewers perceptions of reality and that exhibition attendees gain a more nuanced view of their own society.

The opening the exhibition will take place on September 5, at 17:00, in Hall no. 1 of the National Museum of History of Moldova, str. 31 August 1989, 121A.