Victor Ciobanu, Study for “The Book of Debt”

The “book of debts” is, quite literally, a notebook in which shopkeepers record the debts of customers who don’t have the money to pay — usually for basic necessities — at a village shop. It’s a practice found in almost every village shop in the Republic of Moldova. Because of the precarious socioeconomic situation, villagers very often only have money seasonally, or when they receive remittances and pensions.

“My” book of debts comes from the shop in my home village (Măcărești, Ungheni district), where my parents used to send me as a child to buy groceries (in the years 1987–1990). Most often, bread. When I spoke with Mr. Mihai Postică, the shop’s owner, he had some five or six such notebooks on hand. Our book of debts was started about twenty years ago. Because the village is ageing, according to the owner’s accounts, some of the “debtors” are no longer alive, and the shop eventually closed, no longer being profitable. With very few exceptions, the debts recorded in it were paid off.

Although I don’t remember my parents ever having debts at the shop, the history of these notebooks moved me. On the one hand, it reflects the precariousness of people who cannot afford a decent life without some form of humiliation. On the other hand, it reveals a profoundly human side: in a difficult time, people found ways to live alongside one another, to exchange, and to trust one another.

After scanning the notebook to preserve this socioeconomic document, I decided to make a tapestry — a contemporary carpet (3 × 2 m) — reproducing two pages from “The Book of Debts.” And in order to better understand which weaving techniques to use in carrying out the final work, I made a smaller study (100 x 100 cm), whose composition is a fragment — half a page from the same debt notebook. The work is woven by hand, in wool thread, exactly as our mothers and grandmothers have woven since time immemorial. (Victor Ciobanu, June 2026)

Image(s): Victor Ciobanu, Study for “The Book of Debts” (Caietul de datorii), Hand-woven wool tapestry, 100 × 100 cm, 2026

Victor Ciobanu was born and currently works in the Republic of Moldova. He graduated in Film Directing and Decorative Arts at the Academy of Theater, Music and Fine Arts in Chișinău. Currently, in addition to multimedia and documentary film projects, he paints urban landscapes that are perceived like film scenography.

Image(s): Victor Ciobanu, Study for “The Book of Debts” (Caietul de datorii), Hand-woven wool tapestry, 100 × 100 cm, 2026

Co-organised by 1+1 Association and tranzit.ro/ iași in partnership with HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIm), Oberliht Association, the doctoral schools of the “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iasi (UNAGE Iași) and is co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN). Tranzit.ro/ Iasi is part of tranzit.org network. The main partner of tranzit.org is the ERSTE Foundation.

This is a cultural project co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN). The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or for the way the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.