#Exhibit of the Month

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.

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Exhibitions

"Borders"

Media exhibition by multimedia artist Valeria Barbas

April 26 – May 10, 2023

On April 26, at 15:00, in the premises of the National Museum of History of Moldova, will take place the opening of the mixed media exhibition "Frontiers" by the multimedia artist Dr. Valeria Barbas. The exhibition symbolically marks April 27 - Tricolor Day, and represents an unprecedented collaboration with the Museum and Archive of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.

Within the " Borders " exhibition, various artistic mediums are represented - 10 paintings from the series created by the artist Valeria Barbas over two decades (2003-2023) with reference to various socio-political events of reference, audio-video installations and for the first time are presented objects saved from the fire of April 7, 2009.

The "Borders" exhibition project reveals a retrospective of the crucial events that marked and shook the Republic of Moldova during the thirty years of independence, with April 7, 2009 as the axis of reference. The exhibition presents for the first time a collaboration between various media historical and contemporary art. This correspondence finds its expression in the concept of borders, viewed from various perspectives, whether geographical, historical, or of an internal nature, of mentality. The exhibition project includes 10 canvases-chronicles, the first being dated from 2003, audio-video installations with reference to the 30 years of independence, objects and documents saved from the fire of April 7, 2009.

During the events of April 7, 2009, a significant part of the collection of documents in the Parliament Archive was burned. Around 3000 files containing information from 1946-2009 were destroyed. These are transcripts of plenary sessions of the Parliament, collections of adopted acts, decisions of the Permanent Bureau, minutes of committee meetings, provisions of the Parliament's leadership, documents regarding the activity of parliamentary fractions, personal files of deputies and employees of the Parliament Secretariat.

Among the salvaged items is a flag. We remind you that for the first time the Tricolor Day was designated on April 27, 1990. Those who will cross the threshold at the National History Museum of Moldova will have the opportunity to see for the first time various objects and documents recovered from the building after the events of that time.

The exhibition "Borders" can be visited between April 26 and May 10, 2023, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.