Historical Reconstructions in Miniature, the personal exhibition of the scenographer Andrei Mențeanu (PhD Student, 2nd year), had the OPENING on Wednesday 13.04.2022, at 4:00 pm at The History Museum in Bucharest and was curated by Mr Cornel Ilie, Deputy Director of the Museum of History of Romania Bucharest and by Prof. Univ. Dr habil. Cosmin Petru Paulescu.
During the exhibition, a series of film models and photographs depicting historical reconstructions from the Second World War on Ukrainian territory was presented. The 3-D models, respect the urban and rural architecture where the battles took place. The author was very keen on remaining faithful to the military history of those times, by carefully aligning the three-dimensional works he created, to a perspective scale and a corresponding photographic format. The enchantment of the models is filtered through the author’s artistic compositions and cinematographic frames, while the public is invited to join in this small historical film set. The miniatures transport their public through time and space using truly magical effects. You are invited to take a peek at the models as close as you possibly can to unravel the many details present.
This exhibition is an excerpt from the professional doctoral project of Andrei Mențeanu, who, in an era of digitalization, proposes to demonstrate that miniature art can be at least as convincing as digital art. The cinematographic miniatures were made using film scene design means of production some of which are listed as follows: urban and rural architecture, objects, lights, uniforms, tanks and an overall theatrical atmosphere of war. On the one hand, the exhibition presents, a series of photographs that offer the visiting public a true cinematic effect, while on the other, are two miniature achievements that portray conflicts on Ukrainian territory in 1943. Is there such thing as a coincidence?
This coincidence lies in the fact that the author, Andrei Mențeanu, began working on this project a few years back, unravelling what now seems like a terrible premonition of current events, happening right before our very eyes. It’s sad to conclude that humans have a difficult time learning from their historical mistakes.
