Books, photographs, stories from interwar Chisinau brought together in exhibition at Moldova's parliament

The atmosphere of the interwar Chisinau, its cultural life, prominent personalities and the places that helped shape the city’s identity are evoked in an exhibition of books and photographs inaugurated at the parliament.

Titled, The Spirit of Interwar Chisinau: Books, People, Places and Urban Rhythms, the exhibition is organized on the occasion of European Heritage Days and in the context of marking 590 years since the city of Chisinau was first documented.

Through books, publications and images of the time, the exhibition reconstructs the profile of a dynamic city undergoing profound urban and cultural transformation. It brings together approximately 100 books and monographs dedicated to the history of Chisinau, including rare volumes, as well as photographs depicting city life between 1918 and 1940, some of them original copies.

 

 

The exhibits bring to the forefront the people, interests and customs that shaped the rhythm of urban life. The photographs show various aspects of life in Chisinau, from education, music, art, architecture, theatre and literature to sports, celebrations, recreational activities and the clothing specific to the period.

 

Among the exhibits, there is a 1925 map of Chisinau, which provides an overview of the urban structure and the way the city’s space was organized during the interwar period. These documentary and visual testimonies give visitors the opportunity to discover a city in continuous development and to better understand the process through which the identity of today’s Chisinau was formed.

 

The exhibition’s inauguration was attended by MPs Marcela Adam and Angela Cutasevici, historian Sergiu Musteata, president of the National Association of Young Historians of Moldova, poet and journalist Alexandru Corduneanu, initiator of the Civic Group for Cultural Heritage, representatives of the Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu Municipal Library, as well as officials from the parliament’s secretariat.

In her capacity of secretary of the parliament’s commission for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media, lawmaker Marcela Adam emphasized that Chisinau of the past meant more than streets and monuments; above all, it means the stories of the people who lived, dreamed, built and learned here. “I firmly believe that the vestiges of the past should be not only a lesson in dignity and continuity, but also an educational resource for future generations. Therefore, we have a duty to protect our heritage, preserve the stories and memories of the people who lived at that time, and in turn build a modern, European Chisinau that embraces its past, present and future,” Marcela Adam said.

 

On the occasion of the exhibition’s inauguration, the parliament library’s collection was enriched with a set of volumes donated by historian and university professor Sergiu Musteata and poet and journalist Alexandru Corduneanu. They include the work, Interwar Chisinau: The Lights and Shadows of an Era. History, Education, Culture and Social Transformations, as well as the curriculum for the optional subject, My Chisinau.

 

The exhibition is organized by the parliament’s secretariat, in cooperation with the Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu Municipal Library, the Heritage 21 Foundation and the National Association of Young Historians of Moldova. It will be open to visitors till the end of October.

People interested can schedule a visit to parliament by accessing the following link: https://vizite.parlament.md/.

Communication and Public Relations Directorate of Moldova’s Parliament