#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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Events Archive

The European Night of Museums 2022

„The light gives splendor to the night…” May 14, 2022

On Saturday, May 14, 2022, from 18:00 to 23:00, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, one of the most important events in the life of the world museum community took place - the European Night of Museums, which this year was held under the motto "The light gives splendor to the night...". This is the 18th edition of the event initiated by the French Ministry of Culture, which is currently under the patronage of UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

The National Museum of the History of Moldova, in cooperation with our partners, has prepared a rich and full of surprises program for visitors. The evening began with a choreographic show "Dancing on the Edge of Time" performed by students of the Faculty of Choreographic Art of the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, coordinated by Snejana Apostol. During the evening, three more dance shows were presented in different rooms of the museum, which were meant to invite visitors to learn history through dance, so that "through the dance the history becomes visible". That night, the Blue Room of the museum became the temple of the "Music for Peace". The divine voices of the girls from the "Cantabile" choir of the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, under the direction of Elena Marian, accompanist Vitalie Mosiiciuc, sounded in a wonderful concert of choral music.

A balm for the soul was the concert of classical music "Discover Classical Music in the Museum" performed by the members of the musical and literary salon "Vine and Lyra". Extraordinary voices of soloists Nicolae Busuioc, People's Artist of the Republic of Moldova; Angela Apti, Honored Artist of the Republic of Moldova, soloist of the Maria Bieșu National Opera and Ballet Theatre; Alexei Digore, soloist of the Maria Bieșu National Opera and Ballet Theatre; Tatiana Gavrilița, laureate of republican and international vocal competitions, brought light, emotions and grandiose resonance to this magical evening at the museum.

The museum courtyard was the place where visitors enjoyed the screening of the film "From the museum's collections", sat on the grass, admired the exhibits and the reconstruction of the Cucuteni culture dwelling, took pictures against the backdrop of the beautifully lit museum building.

During the evening, Cărturești in the Museum offered a series of authors' recitals, with the title "Literary Ambiences", where they highlighted the museum's heritage and perpetuated the light through decorations and books.

At the same time, Tucano Coffee Moldova prepared an extremely interesting quest for history lovers and offered many surprises and prizes.

The evening culminated with the parade of torchbearers, a unique show of medieval fighting, organized by the Ensifer Historical Club under the direction of Mikhail Tereshchenko, and the fire show by the Kairos Club under the direction of Elena Trukhina.

The Night of Museums is over, but the emotions are still there! We are very glad that on the Night of Museums we saw in our rooms a huge number of beautiful and friendly people, lovers of history and beauty, who opened their souls to this event.

We sincerely thank the staff of the National Museum of History of Moldova, who was involved in the event, ensuring its smooth running, as well as our guests and partners.

Event Partners: Cărturești in the Museum; 513; Cantabile Youth Choir of the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova; Faculty of Choreographic Art of the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts; Vine and Lyra Musical and Literary Salon, Ensifer Historical Club; Kairos Club.

Media Partners: Agora.md; ZUGO; diez.md; TV Moldova1.