200-year-old agricultural objects exhibited at Museum of Ethnography and Natural History

Old objects gathered from Moldovan villages were displayed in the yard of the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History on April 20. The exhibits are 100 to 200 years old, Info-Prim Neo reports. The “Agricultural Cultural Patrimony” exhibition includes wooden carts, sledges, plows, cans, plates, two mills dating from 1919 and other old objects that are unique, said Eugen Bazgu, senior specialist at the Culture Ministry’s Cultural Patrimony and Visual Arts Division. “There are many such agricultural objects in villages, but they remained forgotten in attics. We started to collect such objects and gather by about 2,000-3,000 new items every year,” Bazgu said. According to him, the employees of the museum go on ethnographic trips to villages to collect old objects. “The wind mill with six sails was brought from Besalma village of Comrat district. The other mill is from Gangura village of Ialoveni district. We also have a piece of grinding machinery from a steam mill brought from Truseni,” the specialist said. Deputy Minister of Culture Gheorghe Postica said 2010 was declared the year of agricultural cultural patrimony. “We have agricultural traditions and special agricultural landscapes that should be put to good use. This exhibition is very important as it lays emphases on the fact that the agricultural patrimony is vulnerable,” the deputy minister said. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) instituted the International Day of Monuments and Sites on April 18, 1982. A new theme is selected for this day every year in order to highlight the diversity of the international cultural patrimony, said Doctor of Architecture Sergiu Ciocanu. The “Agricultural Cultural Patrimony” is a permanent exhibition. A ticket costs 5 lei.