One hundred and eleven years have recently passed since, on the basis of Royal Decree no.2777/13 July 1906, signed by King Carol I and Mihail Vladescu, the inspired Minister of Denominations at the time, Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcas was appointed director of the Museum of Ethnography, National Art, Decorative Art and Industrial Art, also known to Bucharesters as the Museum by the Boulevard. Since then, the Museum has gone through many challenges brought about by the steamroller of 20th Century history. Transformed, moved, its collection scattered, outrightly disbanded and then re-established in 1990 under the name of Romanian Peasant Museum, creatively proposed by Horia Bernea-Irina Nicolau’s team.
At present, the Romanian Peasant National Museum is in full process of beautification, the neo-Romanian style building being a worksite of consolidation and restauration. For the time being, the permanent exhibition items are stored away, but the temporary exhibition rooms have remained open: Tancred Banateanu Room, Foyer Room, Aquarium Room but also the Peasant Art Gallery – a good place to admire and buy older and newer rural objects. Moreover, many art films and documentaries are at the disposal of movie fans at the Peasant Museum Cinema (from the Horia Bernea Studio).
“The Romanian Peasant National Museum redefines traditions in a dynamic and contemporary perspective, inviting both specialists and the wider audience to active and creative participation via the actions and events it organises: exhibitions, fairs, conferences, creative workshops, concerts, movie screenings,” Romanian Peasant National Museum PR Iuliana Balan (Marketing – Public Relations Bureau), stated for Nine O’Clock.
She also pointed out that, on the National Day, the Peasant Museum will host a fair that brings together 130 artisans from all of the country’s regions, with beautiful things they have worked on this year. The most skilled potters, painters of icons, carvers, spoon makers, skinners, weavers, and seamstresses will take part in the Saint Nicholas Fair, from Friday, December 1st, to Sunday, December 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
People of all ages are invited at the Fair, to jointly celebrate the National Day and start the winter season in good health and good spirit!
Photo credit: Marius Caraman
