#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 National Fair of the Carpet „COVORUL DORULUI” 5th edition

December 16, 2018

The National Fair of the Carpet was organised for the 5th consecutive year by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research in the contextxt of the promotion of the ellement "Traditional techniques of weaving carpets in Romania and the Republicof Moldova" which was inscribed on the UNESCO's Representaative List of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity of December 1, 2016.

The aim of the National Fair of the Carpet is to valorize the authentic Romanian rug and the rugs of other ethnicities living in the Republic of Moldova, to discover the basic motifs and symbols of the carpets, and to familiarize with the traditions and customs of the inhabitants of Moldova. The mistletoe caroling, which is part of the Universal Heritage from 2013, will be the key moment of the artistic program.

The 5th edition of the National Fair of the Carpet was held simultaneously in three national museums: the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History (Mihail Kogălniceanu Street, no. 82), the National Museum of History of Moldova (31 August Street, no. 121A) and the National Art Museum of Moldova (31 August Street, no. 115).

PROGRAM:

14:00-15:00 National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History

The official opening of the event, as well as the opening of the exhibition "The Image of the World woven onto Wool" with carpets from the museum collections, as well as 12 ponevi (thick cloth of wool, cotton and other materials from which are made carpets) from the collections of the Museum of the Criş Country in Oradea (Romania). The first part of the event included a vast informative and fun musical program with many representations of carpet weaving traditions, as well as numerous creative and interactive workshops. In the courtyard of the museum was organized a peasant household where visitors had the opportunity to taste traditional dishes.

15:30-16:30 National Museum of History of Moldova

The museum became a place of interaction between different ethnic groups living in the Republic of Moldova, a meeting place for many cultures, languages and traditions. In the hall of the museum were presented the most beautiful winter traditions of Bulgarians, Ukrainians, and Gagauzians. Workshops were organized by experienced weavers from the "Rustic Art" Craftsmen Complex from Clişova. The exhibitions and workshops were accompanied by a musical performance, which included pieces from the folklore of minorities living in Moldova. Visitors were also able to admire the exhibition "The Magic of the Old Carpet", which includes selected pieces from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova from the 18th - beginning of the 20th century, some of which are exhibited for the first time. In the museum courtyard was arranged an artisan craft fair.

17:00-18:00 National Art Museum of Moldova

Was opened the exhibition "Tradition and Modernity" with a display of artworks signed by Mihai Grecu, Elena Bontea, Vladimir Palamarciuc and woven artworks by Elena Rotaru, Silvia Vrânceanu, Andrei Negură, Maria Saca-Răcilă and others.

The binder that secured the connection between different locations and compartments was the Winter Parade of Traditional Costume. Special guests at the National Fair of the Carpet were: the group Flori de măr from Râșca, Suceava; Folkloric group Glasul Odăieșilor, Galați County; Group Cerbul from Heleșteni, Iași.

Event partners: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Moldova, Primex Com, MIMI Castle.

Media partner: Publika TV