#Exhibit of the Month

It is a sports trophy obtained at an inter-school oina (a bat-and-ball game) competition in interwar Bessarabia. We don't know which schools participated in this competition, nor the venue, we only know that one of the winners received the second prize and that the event was held on May 13, 1934. In this way we learn about the existence of different sports competitions organized by schools, including the oina game. Oina is a beautiful and complex sports game that promotes the development of body and spirit, courage and the desire for self-improvement. Oina is a treasure of the Romanian people, which must be sacredly kept and passed on to future generations.

The oină or hoina game is considered a Romanian national sports game having a history of at least six centuries. The oina game is practiced continuously, according to the chronicles and deeds of the time at least from the 14th century, being mentioned for the first time in 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Vodă. The game requires complex sports qualities (good running speed, fast reflexes in self-defense movements against the balls, accuracy in throwing and hitting the ball with a bat or stick). Oina is a sport that identifies us to the same extent as trânta, our national wrestling. The game becomes attractive among young people in the villages, enters the school curriculum through physical education lessons. Through the Education Reform of 1898, as well as through other ministerial decisions, Education Minister Spiru Haret introduces the compulsory oina lessons in all schools, as well as the annual oina competitions.

On May 9, 1899, in Bucharest, the first national oina championship was organized, the teams being made up of high school students. The winner was the team of Nicolae Bălcescu High School from Brăila.

In 1912, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society (Bucharest) was created, which consisted of 13 sports commissions including the oina commission.

After the Union of 1918, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society was reorganized in 1923, including the other oina sports commissions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia.

In 1932, the Romanian Oina Federation was founded.

National Museum of History of Moldova

Exhibitions

„A look from the sky: Teodor Macari - a jeweler of Romanian painting”

In memory of Teodor Macari. 60 years since the artist's birth

March 13 - 22, 2020

A long reflection on the immensity of heavens, the beauty of the landscapes and the melancholy of flowers. An experiment on the skies without boundaries in all colors and in all splendor. Color, space, light and darkness. These are just some of the symbols that you will find reflected in the works of the watercolorist painter Teodor Macari.

Born on March 13, 1960 in the village of Mîndreşti, Telenesti district, Republic of Moldova, Teodor Macari started his studies at the "Igor Vieru" high school of art in Chişinău and then attended the Institute of Fine Arts in Tallinn, Estonia. He was a doctoral student at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and from 1989 he began his career as a professor of painting and composition at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at "Ion Creangă" Pedagogical State University in Chişinău. In 2005 he became a member of the Union of Plastic Artists, Chișinău and member of the Union of Plastic Artists from Romania.

He has made personal and group exhibitions, participated in creative camps in Tallinn, Campina, Bucharest, Ploieşti, Buşteni as well as at the "Brâncuşi" Exhibition Center in Chişinău. His works are part of the collections of the Art Museum in Ploieşti, Romania, the National Museum of Arts of Moldova, but also in private collections in the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Germany, USA, Macedonia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Switzerland, Australia and other countries.

In his works, 19 of which are displayed in the exhibition, the watercolorist paid close attention to the sky. The artist said that he felt closer to the sky by painting it. "This is how I build my way to heaven. My heavens are not real; they are those of my imagination".

On 4.11.2018, Teodor Macari's heart went beating in the heavens he loved so much and knew how to paint them so beautifully in our hearts.

Curator of the exhibition: Liuba Prîngache, painter, MNIM.