On May 21, 2025, a delegation from the State Archives, led by the Director, Prof. Dr. Natasha Kotlar-Trajkova, took part in the official opening of the exhibition "Beyond Yesterday," authored by Professor Cătălin D. Constantin. Professor Constantin, a distinguished anthropologist at the University of Bucharest, presented a compelling visual and cultural narrative through the exhibition.
The exhibition is the result of Professor Constantin’s research mission through the villages of the Balkans, during which he followed the investigative paths of the Manaki brothers. The exhibition also included photographs from the "Manaki Brothers" collection, which is housed in the Bitola Department of the State Archives.
Conceptually, the exhibition is designed as a fusion of past and present, focusing on the development of several villages originally photographed by the Manaki brothers. It draws a visual parallel between panoramic photographs taken before 1905—primarily in Aromanian (Vlach) villages across ethno-geographic Macedonia, Epirus, and Albania—and their contemporary appearance and development. At the opening, Professor Constantin highlighted the commitment and role of the State Archives in this project. Director Prof. Dr. Natasha Kotlar-Trajkova, along with archivists Mr. Goce Stojanovski and Dimitar Gjorgievski, emphasized the valuable contribution of archival institutions to such collaborative efforts, and the importance of presenting this heritage to the broader public.
During their visit to Bucharest, the team from the State Archives held several meetings with officials from the Archive of the Village Museum and the Romanian Cultural Institute. The representatives of the State Archives also attended and participated in a lecture for students at the University of Bucharest, titled “The Archives and Photographic Heritage of the Manaki Brothers in the Context of the Socio-Cultural Processes in the Balkans Before the Balkan Wars.”
The working visit to Romania opened up new perspectives for future cooperation aimed at presenting shared cultural heritage in the years to come.
