#Exhibit of the Month

The Roman bronze situla comes from a collection of archaeological artifacts confiscated at customs and transferred to the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova in 2009. Its place of discovery remains unknown.

A situla (Latin for "bucket") is a metal vessel-usually made of bronze-shaped like a pail and equipped with two movable handles at the top, traditionally used for mixing wine with water. The handles are attached to the vessel via two decorated ears that are welded to the rim.

The body of the situla is truncated-conical in shape and features two decorative bands with small circular patterns formed by hammering, located just below the rim.

Its base is double-layered: the inner bottom is hemispherical and hammered, while the outer bottom is flat and lathe-made. The outer base is welded to the inner bottom, serving as the vessel's foot-support.

This object was crafted using a combination of casting, hammering, and partial lathe-finishing. Dimensions: Maximum height - 31.7 cm; Maximum diameter - 22.8 cm; Base diameter - 13.5 cm

Situlae of this type originated in the Roman Empire and were later adopted by various ancient peoples, including those from the northwestern Pontic region.

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Exhibitions

“Childhood in the Gulag”

Memorial to the Victims of Communism and Resistance Sighetu Marmației, Romania

25 May – 31 August 2023

On May 25, 2023, at the invitation of colleagues from the Civic Academy in Bucharest, Romania the "Childhood in the Gulag" vernissage took place (curator Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru) - an event organized as part of the commemorative activities devoted to "The Memorial Day", at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance from Sighet.

The exhibition presents photo-documentary images about the life of Bessarabian children condemned by the totalitarian-communist regime of the Moldavian SSR to deportation, starvation, Russification, indoctrination, forced excision from their own families, during the years 1940-1941 and 1944-1953.

The exhibition approach brings together about 180 photo-documentary images, accompanied by memories and archival documents from the collections of the National History Museum of Moldova, the Edineț County Museum, the Museum of History and Ethnography from Soroca, the INIS ProMemoria Archive of the USM, as well as from the archives of the communities memory and of the survivors of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR.

The opening was inaugurated by the President of the Academia Civică Foundation, Ms. Ana Blandiana, who warmly welcomed the presence of the exhibition within the commemorative events at the Memorial in Sighet and the need to strengthen efforts to disseminate historical knowledge related to the totalitarianisms of the 20th century. The concept of the exhibition was presented by Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru and Dr. Virgiliu Bîrlădeanu, mentioning the actuality of the recovery, documentation and historical valorization of the testimonies of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime in Bessarabia.

The inauguration of the photo-documentary opening "Childhood in the Gulag" at the Sighet Memorial is a tribute to the children who went through the atrocities of the totalitarian-communist regime in the USSR, as well as an action to commemorate the victims produced among children in the war started by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" can be visited between May 25 - August 31, 2023, at the headquarters of the Sighet Museum (str. Corneliu Coposu, no. 4, Sighet town, Maramureş county, Romania).

The Opening of the photo-documentary exhibition „Childhood in the Gulag" was organized within the project „Edification of a European culture of memory by promoting intergenerational communication and cross-border cooperation. Exchange and implementation of the best practices between Lithuania and Moldova", with the support of the „The Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.