Radio România Internațional

Tag: National History Museum of Romania

  • Irregularities regarding the exhibition in Assen

    Irregularities regarding the exhibition in Assen

    The Dutch police are trying to track down the Romanian treasury artifacts stolen on January 25 from the Drents Museum in Assen. The three suspects detained in this sensitive case refuse to say what they did with the stolen objects, a helmet and three gold bracelets, whereas a fourth suspect, who was identified by the authorities, remains at large. A Dutch art detective believes there is a 50% chance that the thieves have already melted the gold artifacts, fueling the emotion and fears of Romanian authorities regarding the outcome of this investigation. The fact that the police quickly arrested the suspects gives the detective hope that the thieves did not have time to do this, but their insistence on not telling the police where the artifacts are worries him, the Dutch media writes.

     

    The Prime Minister’s Inspection Corps checked the way the National History Museum in Bucharest loaned the items to the Drents Museum and the way the exhibition was organized. The report found irregularities and legal loopholes in terms of protecting cultural heritage, as well as deviations from observing the legal framework regulating the temporary export of classified movable cultural goods. Thus, the investigation revealed that the security and anti-burglary measures and conditions proposed by the Dutch side were not subject to an expert analysis. The situation was caused, on the one hand, by the lack of established norms in this regard and by the lack of establishing specific attributions within the organizational structures and entities involved in approving the move. The analysis of the security measures accepted by the National Museum of History for the organization of the temporary exhibition at the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, compared to those established for the exhibitions in Madrid and Rome, revealed that the measures were less rigorous, at least in terms of ensuring security with specialized 24/7 personnel.

     

    On the other hand, the measures regarding the organization of the exhibition in the Netherlands were not subject to the analysis and formal approval of the board of directors established at museum level. This represents a deviation from the norms regulating the organization and functioning of the National Museum of History of Romania. Last but not least, for some of these items the last reevaluation for insurance purposes was carried out more than 14 years ago, although, according to regulations, the process is supposed to be carried out every 10 years. The findings of the investigation were communicated to the Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Against this backdrop, Culture Minister Natalia Intotero said she would call for tighter legislation regulating the conditions under which exhibitions can be held abroad. (VP)

  • The Exhibition “Femininity and motherhood in prehistory”

    The Exhibition “Femininity and motherhood in prehistory”

    The month of March marks the beginning of spring and the celebration of femininity, these being the international symbols associated with this month. The National History Museum of Romania (MNIR), in the historical center of Bucharest, celebrated the month of March with a very special exhibition. Its curator, the archaeologist and museographer Andreea Bîrzu, told us about this exhibition:

    “In March, the National History Museum of Romania celebrates women through a new temporary exhibition: ‘Femininity and motherhood in prehistory. Neo-Eneolithic anthropomorphic plastic representations from the museum collection. An exhibition that we especially dedicated to all ladies and young ladies.”

    Andreea Birzu also explained the curatorial concept behind this exhibition hosted by the National History Museum of Romania.

    “The curatorial project offers the public the extraordinary opportunity to learn the story of some of the most spectacular artefacts from this remote period in human history. The exhibition discourse is structured around exceptional archaeological cultural assets from the museum’s collection of prehistoric objects, miniature embodiments of female shapes, vessels and statuettes that have lasted more than 6,000 years. Expressive, with a great emotional and symbolic impact, many of these anthropomorphic representations are true masterpieces of prehistoric art.”

    Curator Andreea Bîrzu gave us more details about the prehistoric artifacts on display at the National History Museum of Romania:

    “Of great diversity in shape, decoration and artistic achievement, the statuettes and vessels depict female characters in various poses. Perhaps the most impressive, the one that prompts the viewer to reflect, is that of motherhood, suggested by anatomical details carefully chosen and modelled by the prehistoric craftsmen. The breasts and the pubic triangle are visible, just like the protruding abdomen. Often, these pieces have an elaborate decoration, with geometric or spiral designs, inlaid on the surface of the body, suggesting elements of clothing, ornaments, hairstyles or even tattoos.”

    We asked Andreea Birzu which was in her opinion the item that impressed visitors the most.

    “Perhaps the most impressive representation of the female figure is that of motherhood, suggested by carefully chosen and modeled anatomical details. … The figurine of the mother with the child on her chest, discovered at Rast, in Dolj county, in southwest Romania, is perhaps the most relevant.”

    But what these arfecats meant to the prehistoric people? Andreea Birzu explained:

    “These artifacts give us particularly valuable information about the development of the community, about the beliefs, concerns and ideals of people in the distant past. They illustrate aesthetic and religious canons specific to the Neo-Eneolithic world, understood as expressions of reality, of aspects of daily life, of women’s identity, or as representations of divinities, of fecundity and fertility, or as objects of worship. The existence of these artifacts is closely related to the spiritual life of prehistoric societies, depicting through symbolic images the values ​​and principle of femininity. Femininity and motherhood were certainly sources of complex meanings for the prehistoric man, which remain rooted in the collective consciousness of modern people.”

    The exhibition hosted by the National History Museum of Romania was received with interest by the audience, Andreea Birzu told us:

    “The reaction of the visitors who see these objects, some of them for the first time, is very interesting. Most of them told me that they were delighted by the expressiveness of these pieces, by their ability to attract and hold their gaze like a magnet. Some have also said that they were amazed by the extraordinary power of abstraction of the prehistoric artisans, who managed to render with simple, rudimentary means the essence of femininity which they transposed in these figures of clay and bone.”

  • First Kings of Europe

    First Kings of Europe

    An unprecedented and long-awaited international exhibition, titled First Kings of Europe had its opening at the end of March in the United States of America, at the famous Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, an exhibition in which Romania plays an important role:. This unprecedented cultural project, initiated 6 years ago by the American museum, presents outstanding pieces from the heritage of 26 museums from 11 countries in Southeast Europe, including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary and Romania. We spoke with museographer Corina Borș, coordinator of the exhibition on behalf of Romania, through the National History Museum of Romania, about this project, about its birth and the proposal of this vast exhibition. Corina Borș:



    It is practically the second international exhibition in which the National History Museum of Romania has participated, in the United States and Canada. The prestigious Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago had the initiative. Despite its title, which is only intended to be attractive to the public and to mark a very special idea, the exhibition has a prehistoric archaeological theme, starting to present to this public a history dating back more than 7,000 years. The First Kings of Europe project was initiated by representatives of the Field Museum more than 6 years ago, all starting with the visit to Bucharest of the American researcher and archaeologist William Parkinson and his partner in the research efforts and then the creation of the exhibition, Attila Gyucha. The theme of the exhibition is an archaeological one, focused on the prehistoric period, starting from the Neolithic to the end of the second Iron Age. It’s an exhibition that invites the public to explore the rise to power of the first dynasts, as they are called today, kings and queens of ancient Europe. An invitation to discover how egalitarian farming communities first developed the concepts of power, social inequality and hierarchy. It is a journey back in time, far back to almost 5,000 BC, a journey marked by a whole series of prehistoric artefacts of prime importance from the collections of 26 museums in 11 South-East European countries. These prehistoric artefacts, represented by tools, weapons, sculptures, ornaments, a whole series of other elements made of ceramics, metal, bone or stone, are an invitation to discover prehistoric life in these ancient societies of the Balkan region. The exhibition is an invitation to adventure, on a series of exchange routes that shaped the world as we know it today. Likewise, the artifacts mark landmarks related to the ceremonies of those distant times, from the reconstruction of a Neolithic altar to a funerary scene. Last but not least, there are particularly precious objects, such as weapons, but also power insignia that turned the warriors into, let’s call them, dynasts.



    Museographer Corina Borș explained the structure of the exhibition:


    The exhibition is structured around four major themes, and is organized chronologically, from the Neolithic to the first Iron Age. The first section, dedicated to the Neolithic period, explores how the lands on which these prehistoric civilizations developed before the appearance of the first kings would have looked. The period of the Copper Age or Eneolithic is the one in which, practically, we can talk about the appearance of the first precious metal objects, among the oldest in the world, discovered on the current territory of Romania and Bulgaria. The third section, dedicated to the Bronze Age, is centered on the emergence of new routes of power and, properly speaking, the emergence of the first dynasties, in the sense in which we could speak of royalty. Finally, the one in the last part of the exhibition, the one on the Iron Age, practically the first millennium before Christ, is the one dedicated to the birth of the idea of ​​royalty.





    But what is Romania’s contribution to this project? Corina Borș explained:


    From Romania, 6 museums participate in this important exhibition, the coordinator of the project being the National History Museum of Romania. It is a partnership with the National History Museum of Transylvania in Cluj, the National Museum Complex in Piatra-Neamț, the Gumelnița Civilization Museum in Oltenița, the Oltenia Museum in Craiova and the Buzău County Museum. From the collections of the 6 mentioned museums, a selection of 90 pre- and proto-historical artifacts, dating from the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age and up to the second Iron Age, are participating.





    Corina Borș also told us how the public across the ocean received the exhibition:


    At the moment, it is difficult to answer this question, because we are only at the beginning of the presentation of the exhibition in the second location. In an exhibition run of over two and a half years, three destinations were considered, namely New York, Chicago and Gatineau in Canada. We believe that the exhibition will be a real success, being a completely new theme for the American public. But, it is fair to wait for their reactions and opinions. (MI)