Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century. The word pafta is of Turkic origin-possibly entering the language via Iranian influence-derived from the Persian word bafta, meaning "woven," which evolved in Turkish to signify "plate." Today, the term is used in nearly identical forms in Romanian (pafta), Bulgarian (пафта), Serbian (пафте), and some Aromanian dialects (pafta), designating functional and ornamental clothing accessories used to fasten belts, girdles, or sashes, crafted from various materials and decorated using different techniques. The three buckles decorated in the polychrome enamel technique, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova, belong to the South-Danubian tradition and are dated to the late 19th - early 20th century.
Each buckle consists of two identical trapezoidal parts, their surfaces divided into three roughly equal registers, adorned with stylized vegetal motifs forming a metal lattice into which enamel is poured. The two parts extend into sharp angles at the ends, forming a triangle with the edge of the last decorative register, similarly ornamented. The enamel used to fill the floral motifs is black, turquoise, white, orange, green, yellow, and burgundy. The entire decorative field is framed by a beaded border.
On the reverse, both components retain a copper band riveted along the edge, used to fasten the ends of the belt. The fastening system, made by interlocking the hinges of the two parts and secured with a movable pin attached by a chain to a clasp fixed on one of the buckle pieces, is concealed by a rectangular plate (riveted with three pins to the body of the piece), with narrow edges ending in sharp angles, decorated in the same style and technique. Additionally, it features three circular settings with notched edges bent inward to hold centrally placed red and green glass paste. These settings are framed by a radiant, notched band.
The symbolism of the color palette encodes meanings and symbols, chosen for their believed magical powers. Red has always represented love, affection, and protection against curses and the evil eye; white symbolizes purity and spiritual and physical cleanliness; blue is symbolically associated with infinity, morning, new beginnings, and transformation; green represents destiny, hope, prosperity, balance, and rebirth, being linked to nature's revival each spring and to life itself.
The museum institution in the process of globalization
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The beginning of the millennium marked the dissolution of communication borders generated by the transition from a tightly governed political system to the democratization process, from planned economy to the market one, from the rapid development of technologies to the globalization phenomenon. The postindustrial economy had stimulated the mobilization of the intellectual capital and its use in production and service spheres.
It is in the period of impetuous transformations that appears the nostalgia of stability, originality and individuality. The identity of the person, of the community of origin, ethnicity and nationality had always been one of the essential points of each cultural dialog at local, national or universal scale.
In the context of changing social-political and cultural processes, the issue of keeping and affirming identity becomes an essential one; a fortiori it represents the only efficient way of combating the negative and obscured effects of globalization.
The globalization process had imposed the contemporary society with a cultural globalization by redefining the purpose of the museum institution which’s activity is determined by new factors: - the market holds the arbiter role, appreciating and determining the essence of values - the entertainment industry holds a considerable niche in the cultural sphere - reduction of the state role and the emergence of untraditional political formations - disappearance of intellectual borders - appearance and development of multicultural communities - as a result of developing new technologies appear new visions about notions of place, time, space etc.
Another aspect of the cultural globalization is the decentralization of big museums and the rapid museification of society. We are today the witnesses of a big museum revolution; we will be able to appreciate in time whether it is a positive or a negative factor. One of the immediate changes is building new systems of museums, or of a new system of museums. In other words, building a territorial network not only diversified spatially and territorially, but also on profiles, levels and functions in which the different unities complete and correlate among themselves, keeping the same educational and heritage preservation objectives.
Lucia Marinescu-Tonu
Museum institution in the „globalization trap”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Lucia Marinescu-Tonu
The exhibition “In the World of Toys”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Lucia Marinescu-Tonu
Exhibition “My ancient silverware, so artfully crafted...”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVI [XXXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Lucia Marinescu-Tonu
Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences in Rio de Janeiro - between science and public
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Lucia Marinescu
In memoriam Mihai Onilă
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIII [XXVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century....
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
