#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

Training workshop conducted by Vanessa Vaio, an expert in heritage interpretation

September 28, 2023

On Thursday, September 28, 2023, the Blue Room of the National Museum of History of Moldova hosted the training workshop "Innovative approaches to the interpretation of cultural heritage for the development of a tourism product through the prism of immersive experiences" conducted by Ms. Vanessa Vaio, an expert in heritage interpretation with more than 28 years of experience in this field. Vanessa Vaio is the Italian coordinator of Interpret Europe - the European Association for Heritage Interpretation. The opening of the event was attended by Ms. Svetlana Pociumban, head of the Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture, who emphasized the role of museums in modern society and the importance of promoting and developing cultural heritage through education.

The workshop was organized within the European Heritage Days by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova and the National Museum of History of Moldova, in partnership with the Public Association "ICOM Moldova National Committee" and the National Association for Inbound and Internal Tourism of Moldova, with the strategic support of USAID Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Project.

During the seminar, Vanessa Vaio shared her experience in the development of interpreting programs, interpreting planning, development and production management of advertising materials; the use of technology and multimedia in interpreting; creating content for different categories of visitors; developing accessible and inclusive interpretation strategies; integrating the results of scientific research into interpretation strategies.

The workshop was attended by more than 20 staff members from national and local museums, who develop educational programs and who will apply in practice the acquired knowledge in the field of public relations, so that the services provided to visitors meet European standards.

The National Museum of History of Moldova has the honor of organizing and conducting such important events, the purpose of which is to make the work of museum workers more efficient, increase the attractiveness of museum products, and also return museums to the ranks of cultural institutions that occupy leading positions in the country and abroad.