#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Polish illustrations for children in Chisinau”

June 1-30, 2022

Their works win awards around the world. The images they create take readers into a fairytale world, opening an extraordinary portal to the realm of fantasy. The titles signed with their names are used fervently not only by the youngest, because the illustrations they create are true works of art. These are the most important Polish illustrators and designers of children's books. At the National Museum of the History of Moldova in Chisinau you can see some examples of those wonderful works.

Polish School of Illustration - a term created in the 60ʼs, used for a group of Polish illustrators who have gained international recognition. They illustrated children's books.

The beginning of the Polish School of Illustration dates back to the second half of the 50ʼs. The socio-political situation in Poland after 1956 had a great influence on the shaping of this cultural and historical phenomenon. New opportunities appeared for the authors of that time, the profile of publishing activities was defined and the publishing movement was centralized. The Ministry of Culture and Art raised the problem of children's books at a high level, which allowed the first-class implementation of the children's book plan.

Artists during the People's Republic of Poland, due to the prevailing doctrine of socialist realism, focused on profitable, practical artistic works such as: designing postcards, advertising prints or designing book illustrations. In retrospect, this situation brought positive results. Then, thanks to this, in the years 1950-1980, a group of illustrators-visual artists, referred to as the Polish School of Illustration, developed.

This group of illustrators represented exceptional artistic originality and used innovative solutions. The artists used various techniques, created works characterized by a sense of humor and created poetry in their visual message, which was distinguished by an extraordinary freedom of expression. All these phenomena resulted in the fact that the Polish School of Illustration gained international recognition and ensured a very high position of Polish illustration in the world.

The exhibition "Polish School of Illustration" can be seen on the fence of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Chisinau, 31 August 1989 street, 121A, June 1-30, 2022.