#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.

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Exhibitions

"Works of Architect Valentin Voitsekhovsky"

August 9 – September 9, 2012

The exhibition is dedicated to the commemoration of 35 years from the death of architect V. Voitsekhovsky (1909-1977); it is a tribute to this outstanding person who has greatly contributed to the reconstruction of postwar Chisinau and the urban construction in the country.

Based on his projects in the Chisinau there were designed about 100 buildings, including the "Patria" Cinema (1951), buildings of the first residential district of Botanica (1952-1962), the building of the Ministry of Food Industry (1953), "N. Testemițeanu" Medical University (1956-1962), buildings from the 4^th residential district of Riscani (1961), "S. Lunchevici" State Philharmonic (1962), a number of residential buildings on Stefan cel Mare Boulevard in Chisinau, and many residential buildings, schools, cinemas at the towns of Balti and Soroca. In his work V. Voitsekhovsky used motifs of Moldavian folk architecture and local materials. He used glazed ceramic elements for decoration of facades in accordance with the traditions of Byzantine architecture. V. Voitsekhovsky was at the forefront of the Moldavian Soviet architecture, one of the few founders of the national architectural school.

The exhibition presents photographs and original documents from the museum and private collections. Valuable is the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova, which reflects the activities of the Andronache (Andrunakevich) - Stadnițki family, revealing biography of the architect wife - Tatiana, well-known pianist and teacher at the Chisinau State Conservatoire, a daughter of renowned Bessarabian pianist Antonina Stadnițki - Andronache. An important part of the exhibition presents the development of Soroca, the hometown of the architect V. Voitsekhovsky.

Among the authentic materials (projects, models) there is shown an original project - the former Sovnarkhoz building (now Ministry of Industry), situated on Stefan cel Mare Boulevard. For many years this project has been preserved in A. V. Şciusev's Memorial Museum and currently is in the possession of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova. This work of the architect is the core of the exhibition.