RTVNY - Romanian Television of New York's video: Ritual and Memory: the Ancient Balkans and Beyond - Romania at the ISAW Neolithic art exhibition

(Aired 01/29/2023) Channel NYCTV-life (WNYE) - (RTVNY). Few history museums in the US feature Neolithic art and culture and fewer still, artifacts from ancient southeastern Europe. In NY, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU presents a unique exhibition, on view through February 19, 2023 and called “Ritual and Memory: the Ancient Balkans and Beyond.” The exhibition shows loans from 11 countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, and displays more than 200 artifacts ranging from ceramic figurines, miniature terracotta architectural models, eating and drinking vessels, sophisticated pottery, swords, axes, altars, jewelry, from a region that stretches from the Balkan Mountains to the Carpathian Basin. Beginning in the Neolithic period (about 8,000 years ago) and extending through the Iron Age (about 2,500 years ago), this fascinating show presents seldom-exhibited ritual objects used in celebrations and in funerals. The participation of 18 lending institutions offers a unique opportunity to explore aspects of these long-silent civilizations. The National History Museum of Romania is the main Romanian lender and participated with several unfamiliar and rarely-exhibited artifacts: the bronze and iron wagon model from Bujoru (800-700 BCE), the silver gilt helmet from Peretu (325-275 BCE), the golden hoard with pendants from Sarasau, (1300-1200 BCE), and the silver goblet from Agighiol (350-300 BCE). The ceramic/ terracotta architectural model from Cascioarele (4600-3900 BCE) on loan from the Romanian National History Museum, and the ceramic model and golden hoard from Sultana - Malu Rosu (4500-4000 BCE) on loan from the Museum of Gumelnita Culture, Oltenita date back to the 5th millennium BC and were discovered close to sacrificial areas and sanctuaries. The miniature architectural models may have been cult objects and may as well provide information related to the tell structures of the Neolithic period unearthed in the region. Other artifacts discovered in different regions of modern Romania include a golden hoard with 13 bracelets from Oradea dating from the 2nd millennium BC (1300-1200 BCE), lender the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest or the zoomorphic ceramic vessel from Carna - Ostrovogania (1600-1300 BCE), lender the Museum of Oltenia, Craiova, golden daggers, iron ornaments, golden jewelry. The exhibition opens with the set of 21 ceramic female figurines and their little chairs from Poduri - Dealu Ghindaru, dating from the 5th millennium BC (4900-4750 BCE), lender the Neamt County Museum Complex, Piatra Neamt. Central to the exhibition, the group of highly stylized miniature female figurines was discovered inside a vessel at the site where a sanctuary likely stood almost 7000 years ago. Despite the various interpretations regarding these Neolithic ceramic figurines (also called “the Council of the Goddesses” by some scholars), researchers are united in the conviction that they served a ritual function likely related to reproduction, fertility and death. They offer a glimpse into the cosmology of this ancient civilization and into practices that mediated human and divine relations. The mysterious anthropomorphic figurines sitting in a circle make one of the world’s most extraordinary assemblages of prehistoric artifacts. The miniaturization of both the human figure and the architectural structure may indicate that their value was symbolic. The exhibition reminds of the fluidity of cultural practices and symbolism and of the interactions between different ancient groups. It reinforces the theory that ancient southeastern Europe was dynamic, diverse and knew great artistic and technological accomplishments. “Ritual and Memory” echoes the 2009 major exhibition organized by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World – “The Lost World of Europe: the Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC”. As Dragomir Popovici, the Director of the Archeology Department of the National Museum of History of Romania and Prof Ioan Opris said on the opening day of the exhibition in 2009, this was the most important event related to the Romanian archeology in the US since World War II and explored the technical, aesthetic, and social achievements that bound together the highly advanced but little known ancient southeastern European civilizations. Romanian TV of NY covered this major exhibition in 2009 with ample interviews with the Institute’s director and curator and Romanian researchers. Recently, in 2023, our team had the opportunity to interview Professor Alexander Jones, the director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, about the ongoing exhibition on view in NY. Professor Alexander Jones in conversation with writer and RTVNY contributor Mirela Roznoveanu follows the introduction to the exhibition. Cristi Boghian /Editor & Producer Photo and video: Cristi Boghian and Doina Boghian Romanian TV of NY (RTVNY)