#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

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Exhibition Opening: Art in Motion: From Sketch to Directed Film

October 28, 2025

On October 28, 2025, the National Museum of History of Moldova inaugurated the exhibition Art in Motion: From Sketch to Directed Film, organized to mark World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.

Speakers at the official opening included Dr. Eugen Sava, General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova; Valentina Plugaru, Executive Secretary of the Union of Filmmakers of Moldova; actress Zinaida Timofti, widow of the late director Valeriu Gagiu, known for his work with the Bulgakov-Roman duo; and Ana Maria Rusnac, the exhibition's curator, who presented the research methodology and conceptual framework. Their remarks emphasized the importance of scenography as an autonomous art form and the museum's role in preserving the visual memory of national cinema.

The exhibition highlights the contribution of painter-scenographers who shaped the visual identity of Moldova-Film productions-a film institution with a complex evolution, from the founding of the "Moldovan Studio for Documentary Newsreels" in 1952 through multiple reorganizations that redefined its status and functions. Over several decades, the studio produced feature films, documentaries, and animations that helped forge a distinct cinematic image in the Eastern European context. This legacy is at the heart of the exhibition's reflection.

Central to the display is the work of Aurelia Roman, a distinguished scenographer active at Moldova-Film between 1959 and 1987 and a graduate of the VGIK Art Faculty in Moscow. Also featured are works by Stanislav Bulgakov, Honored Master of Art of the Moldavian SSR.

From a methodological standpoint, Art in Motion offers a multi-layered reading-historical, aesthetic, and technical-by placing archival documents in dialogue with the final cinematic product: the initial sketch, costume model, or studio diorama alongside the filmed image. The project also draws on the museum's collections to demonstrate how scenography functions as an "architecture of emotion" and a vital component of audiovisual heritage.

Curated by Olga Andranovici and Ana-Maria Rusnac, the exhibition invites specialists, students, and the general public to explore the behind-the-scenes world of cinematic creation and to reconsider scenography's place within the discourse of national cultural heritage.

The exhibition is open to visitors from October 28 to November 28, 2025, in the first-floor foyer of the National Museum of History of Moldova (121A, 31 August 1989 Street, Chișinău).