#Exhibit of the Month

The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters. According to the 1864 circular, teaching was conducted in the Romanian language, a provision applied throughout the diocese. The school's first headmistress was Anastasia Rizo, of noble origin, invited by Archbishop Antonie.

The curriculum, approved by the Ministry of Public Education and the Chișinău Diocese, combined theoretical subjects with practical training. Students studied religion, reading and writing in Romanian, Slavonic, and Russian, arithmetic and exercises in calculation, world history and geography. The program was complemented by church singing and practical skills such as sewing, embroidery, knitting, as well as household management - baking bread and prosphora, preparing meals and preserves, caring for livestock, and cultivating gardens.

The composite, taken in 1911 at the studio of Z. N. Sumovski in Chișinău, depicts 29 graduates and 13 teachers. At the center are portraits of Bishop Serafim (Ciciagov), headmistress N. R. Mihelson, teacher V. E. Bejerian, and priests F. Ghiliarov and P. Jurikas. Among the teaching staff was Paraskovia Vasilievna Cuciurenko, a calligraphy teacher for 37 years, who in 1911 became senior educator and assistant headmistress. For her dedication, she was awarded the gold medal "For Long Service."

On the reverse of the vignette is a label from the store and workshop of frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass owned by A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, near the State Bank.

This graduation composite was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.

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Exhibitions

“Everyday Danube. Childhood & Youth in the Danube Region”

June 12 - July 30, 2026

The exhibition "Everyday Danube. Childhood & Youth in the Danube Region" invites visitors on a journey through six Danube countries - Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova - to discover the diversity of childhood and adolescent experiences in the 20th century. Through photographs, objects, and personal stories, the exhibition presents a layered image of growing up, revealing a mosaic of experiences: from carefree play and childhood friendships to work, migration, and loss.

We often associate Europe with imposing buildings, major historical events, or intellectual movements such as the Enlightenment. Yet Europe is found above all in everyday life - in gestures, habits, and actions to which we initially attach no significance, precisely because they seem so natural. Childhood and youth experiences have been and remain formative in this regard.

The exhibition is based on the idea that European heritage is not built solely through major historical events, but primarily through small, personal stories - memories, relationships, objects, and spaces that shape childhood. It creates a space for reflection and dialogue between past and present, between individual experience and collective memory.

By looking at childhoods in the Danube region, we learn not only about the past but also about our shared present. Childhood experiences shape our identity as adults, and they are as diverse as the Danube region itself. Depending on the period and social or cultural context, childhoods may be carefree, marked by trauma, flight, or endurance.

The exhibition features around forty photographs and artifacts, most from the first half of the 20th century, inviting visitors to reflect on identity, freedom, social expectations, and values passed between generations - to discover what we share and what makes us unique.

The exhibition is a project that connects Chișinău with Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, and Germany through the Danube, and reflects the collaboration between:

- National Museum of History of Moldova, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova
- Museum of Slavonia, Osijek, Republic of Croatia
- Slovak National Museum - Museum of the Culture of the Carpathian Germans, Bratislava, Republic of Slovakia
- Institute for Cultural Analysis of the Germans of Eastern Europe (IKDE), Freiburg, Federal Republic of Germany.

The exhibition was presented in March-April in Osijek (Croatia) and Bratislava (Slovakia) and will be open to the public in Chișinău (Republic of Moldova) until July 30, 2026.

The exhibition is part of the international project "Everyday Danube. Open Educational Resource on Everyday Culture in the Danube Region", funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation within the Perspektive Donau program, with support from the Ministry of the Interior, Digitalization, and Local Government of the state of Baden-Württemberg.