#Exhibit of the Month

Throughout time, people have "worn" their teeth as some of their most precious ornaments. Precisely because of this, in many cultures, teeth have undergone changes countless times, acquiring various shapes and colors.

To this day, such local traditions are known in Bali as a rite of initiation for young people between the ages of 16 and 18. Such a practice symbolizes the entry into adult life. Such a procedure is believed to pacify six basic spiritual sins (among them greed, lust, avarice). And for this, six teeth are filed, including the fangs. The women of the Mentawai tribe, from the island of Sumatra, practice carving and sharpening their teeth, being convinced that this is the only way they become attractive. The procedure is performed without anaesthesia, by a local shaman, who, to make the ceremony as painful as possible, uses a chisel with a sharpened and blunt edge. The given ritual has been practiced for millennia at the request of entire generations of girls.

A human mandible with traces of such a ritual was discovered in the settlement of Cobîlnea "Stația" (Cobîlea village, Șoldănești district, year 1986) attributed to the Noua culture (late period of the Bronze Age, XV-XIII centuries BC). ). As a result of the anthropological analysis of the object, it was proven that the mandible belongs to a young man of European race, aged between 18 and 20 years old. The importance of this discovery lies in the rendering of an unusual practice for the communities of the Noua culture and in general for the prehistoric human populations that populated the Carpatho-Danubian-North Pontic space, namely - dental filing. The four incisor teeth are sectioned in half lengthwise, an operation performed shortly before the individual's death. It is not excluded that the mandible belonged to an allogene, which as a result of unknown circumstances arrived in this space and came into contact with the local population. But to verify such a hypothesis, a series of analyzes are needed (DNA, isotopic, 14C).

The grinding marks observed on some areas of the mandible do not exclude its use as a cult attribute (pendant) after the death of the individual.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Fashion and Lifestyle in the 20th Century. From the clothing collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova”

May 18, 2023 - January 31, 2024

Fashion is a mirror of the spirit of time, a useful tool for learning about the past of the country and how the changes (that society has undergone from a cultural, ideological, religious or political point of view) and modernization have affected clothing, lifestyle and values of society.

The civilian clothing collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova counts over 700 garments dating back to the 20th century, capable of stringing together the story of fashion and life, the social and the personal.

The most notable pieces from the collection - over 200 ones of historical, artistic and memorial value, worn by people who lived on this territory - are the subject of the exhibition: going out clothes, casual wear, outerwear and clothing accessories, which show various shapes, cuts, fabrics and materials. Some of the exhibited items belonged to such famous figures as the noblewoman Tatiana Perjul; Eugenia Crușevan, the first female lawyer in Bessarabia; opera singer Tamara Yatsentkovsky; artist Tatiana Nikolaidi; opera and folk singer Tamara Ciobanu; actress Ninel Kameneva; Antonina Luchinski, Doctor of Pedagogy.

All the exhibits together aim to reflect the metamorphoses of the age of change. The exhibition presents urban clothing, first of all influenced by transformations, and then "imported" and adapted also for the countryside.

The journey through the 20th century aims to show in general terms the evolution of clothing more or less in accordance with fashion trends, to reveal the lifestyle of the Bessarabians and how their tastes changed under Eastern, Western and Soviet influences. A significant part of the exhibition is focused on the clothing style dominated under the communist regime and known today as the "Soviet style".

The main decades of the last century are represented by one or two sets of clothing iconic for the given period, accompanied by various accessories and adornments, surrounded by various household items, appliances and pieces of furniture, in an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of that time, to reveal the influence of fashion on various aspects of social life.

Equally, the exhibition includes a number of photographs from the museum holdings, which capture the clothing history of Bessarabian society, as well as various social types and pictures of everyday life of the 20th century. These images represent the most authentic evidence of the past that deserves to be known.

The exhibition concludes with a look at fashion design and trends dictated by the great fashion houses throughout the 20th century, giving us the opportunity to compare the clothes worn by the population of the Republic of Moldova with the fashions and major stylistic trends of the past century.