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Ciprian-Mircea Dobra

Principia Museum

Curator

Country: Romania

ITP Year: 2019

Biography

Ciprian’s passion for Roman history and the Roman Empire has led him to working at the Principia Museum, a small museum most known for its display of a portion of the 13th Gemina Legion’s headquarters as well as some ancient stone statue stands, altars and architectural items. As a curator, Ciprian is responsible for curating exhibitions and organising events and tours, utilising his knowledge of Roman history to offer information and support for those who study Roman history, either by themselves or in organised groups, by collaborating with schools and universities across Romania to create programmes and open classes.

Ciprian’s passion for Roman history has led him to join a re-enactment group in Romania where he has developed a particular interest in Roman military equipment. Ciprian has created replicas of Roman military equipment for the members of the re-enactment group and for some museums in Romania, where he has also delivered information about the Roman military characteristics to Roman literature authors. He also works to organise re-enactment events and exhibitions to promote his museum.

Ciprian is currently studying for a PhD, which concerns The Evolution of Historical Reconstruction (Re-enactment) in Romania.

At the British Museum
During his time on the International Training Programme Ciprian was based in the Department of Greece and Rome and his partner placement was spent at Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums in Newcastle.

In 2019 participants were asked to plan and propose a temporary exhibition around an object from the Museum’s collection working within the theme of journeys. Ciprian worked with Ketevan Chitashvili (Georgia) on his Object in Focus project. Their exhibition proposal was titled The Never Ending Journey of Life.

Ciprian’s place on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

Legacy projects
Ciprian returned to the British Museum in 2023 in the role of Senior Fellow. He supported the ITP team in the build up to, during and after the 2023 annual programme, attended by 18 museum professionals from 15 countries. In this position, Ciprian also took on the role of guest editor of the 2024 ITP newsletter.

Ciprian is also a member of the ITP Advisory Board.