EXHIBITION: A TRIP INTO THE HISTORY OF THE BERCENI DISTRICT

The Bucharest Municipality Museum cordially invites you to attend the exhibition “A Trip Into the History of Berceni District”, opened between February 3rd and April 3rd 2016 in the Lapidarium room of the Filipescu-Cesianu House. The exhibition’s concept is part of the project “Neighbourhood Stories” to which new elements were added (about 30 photographs belonging to the museum’s archives). The opening of the exibition will take place on Wednesday, February 3rd 2016, 18:30, at the Filipescu-Cesianu House.

Following the birth morphology of a district and its urbanistic evolution from suburban commune in a rustic landscape to the construction of residence centers during different periods of the 20th century, the exhibition “A Trip Into the History of Berceni District” dynamically explores the memory of the place through stories, photographs cartographic documents that reveal references in the transformation of the southern part of the city (nowadays the Berceni district).

The exhibition features streets, alleys, lost or transformed places, slums, gardens, local legends, histories of families or figures that have lived here, starting with the 18th century until today. The exhibition was supported by the locals of Berceni district, who contributed with their own personal stories in reconstructing the daily life of the past.

The project “Neighbourhood Stories” was created by the Bucharest Municipality Museum together with Translucid Association and the Bucharest Metropolitan Library, during September-November 2015. This action came as an addition to another project “Edu_Cult_Berceni. From neighborhood to community”, started by Translucid Association in 2014. The Project was co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration and supported by Sun Plaza Mall and Văcărești Nature Park Association. The project had two main components – a research component and collection of local stories compenent.

During the research phase, in BMM’s archives and in the National Archives of Romania we have identified information about the history of the southern part of the city and of Berceni district, as well as images to accompnay it.

At the same time, a call was launched among locals to take part in sharing stories, pictures or photographs they had taken, in order to complete the image of Berceni with their own perspectives. This way, a part of the stories was written and sent by locals, while the largest part was collected as oral history interviews. These stories can be found on the district’s blog: www.cartierulberceni.com, but also in the on-line catalog that will accompany the exhibition.