The tradition
of hunting represents a solid component of the Romanian
material and spiritual civilization, its original ad
diverse forms of manifestation relying on the richness
of the fauna characteristic for the area between the
Carpathians, the Danube and the Black Sea.
The main elements of hunting mus be sought in the distant
past when the pragmatic side of this occupation blended
with the toteism of primitive beliefs, in “ an
universe dominated by the mystic solidarity between
hunter and game “ (Mircea Eliade). A plethora
of zoomorphic symbols engendered over the centuries
the fabulous Romanian epic world where the mythical
element often speaks of hunting adventures. The definition
of hunting today cuts across the simple action of subduing
the wild beast, implying also the thrill of passion,
the rigorous observance of the laws governing human
economy and the sensitive mechaniCONCEDIU of nature.
Initially conserved for theur alleged magic qualities,
used as ornaments or swapped for weaponry or tools,
hunting trophies have continued over the centuries to
preserve their symbolic value. For the person having
obtained such a trophy its significance includes more
than strictly material aspect, being doubled by the
mysterious throb of memory relived.
Beyond their sentimental and aesthetic dimension, hunting
trophies – horns, skulls or furs – represent
a correct indication of the evolution and biological
potential of a certain geographic area.
Moreover, they can be involved in hunting competitions,
being subject to attentive expert eyes that gauge them
according to criteria rigorously worded by the International
Hunting and Game Protection Council, established in
1930. One of the members of this organization is Romania.
By their participation in numerous international exhibitions
of hunting trophies, the Romanian hunters have never
ceased to envice their preoccupation with the correct
administration of the populations of wild beasts and
the conservation of the bio-diversity. The impressive
number of medals and the recognition, several times
in the past sixty years, of the quality of world record
for the most representative species of big game in Europe
confirm the special richness of the Romanian fauna.
Thus, the celebrated Hesshelmer trophy obtained in the
Fagaras Mountains has been holding the absolute record
for chamois horns from 1937. Also, this country resumed
its world supremacy in brown bear skull trophy in 1997.
The opening of the Posada Hunting Museum of the Carpathians,
in 1996, throws a bridge to the Romanians’ hunting
traditions. Mention should be made here of the fact
that the first National Hunting Museum was created in
1931, in the Carol I Gardens of Bucharest. At that time
it was the second cultural establishment of this kind
in Europe. Unfortunately, after more than ten years
the museum as well as its priceless collection, was
destroyed by a fire.
The Hunting Museum of Posada displays, in a most adequate
arrangement, varied hunting exhibits, including impressive
collections of trophies, works of arts, specific hunting
tools characteristic for several stages of human development.
True galleries of art, the halls of the museum catch
the visitor’s eyes both thanks to the considerable
number of exhibits and the distinct personality of each
piece, from the ebony and ivory forest of roe deer and
stag horns, to the comprehensive panoply of wild boar
fangs or the harmonious, rich pearly quality and colour
contrast of roebuck horns. From the category of predators
stand out the furs of wolf, lynx, bob cat and, above
all, bear, giving an inkling of the vigour and number
of these populations of wild animals.
The art of hunting finds thus a formidable expression
in the Hunting Museum of Posada that puts forth numerous
assets of this occupation in Romania against a backdrop
of genuine aesthetic and cultural emotion.
Posada THE HUNTING MUSEUM |
Schimba
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