#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

“Victor Rotaru: Reflections in Colors”

September 21 – October 31, 2023

On September 21, in Room no. 1 of the National Museum of History of Moldova, will take place the opening of a unique exhibition, entitled "Victor Rotaru: Reflections in Colors" which includes an impressive number of paintings by the plastic artist, collected and kept by the Kliuchnikoff family, most of which will be exhibited to the general public for the first time.

Victor Rotaru (1949-2020) is a prominent name in the world of Moldovan art. From an early age, he showed an artistic nature, discovering his special talent for drawing. Although they had in front of them a promising future artist, the times in which he grew up were marked by the strictly ideological demands of socialist realism, imperative in the Soviet period.

However, Victor Rotaru chose a less conventional path. Instead of joining the socialist realism movement, he preferred to maintain his artistic integrity and make a living in another way. He worked as an assistant stage designer at the "Moldova-film" Studio and later at the "Maria Bieșu" Opera and Ballet Theatre. He was also a painting and drawing teacher at children's art schools in the villages around Chisinau. It was a brave decision to give up his career as an artist, simply to stay true to his own artistic vision and not submit to the ideological pressures of the era.

During his career, Victor Rotaru revealed his artistic influences, inspired by artists such as Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso and Dali, from impressionism and post-impressionism. Today, Victor Rotaru's works retain the imprint of the difficult times in which he lived, but each of them conveys a deep philosophical message, reflecting his artistic essence. His compositions are unique in their energy and dynamics, as well as in their color combinations. They reflect the experiences and personality of an artist who said: "Loneliness is my way of being. I am a sentimental nature. Feelings, sometimes full of light, sometimes abysmal, guide me all my life."

Victor Rotaru cared a lot about his family, he had special relationships with his parents and sisters. He was an open person, he liked guests and soulful conversations. They were colleagues and close friends with Tudor Braga, Andrei Sârbu, Petru Jereghe and Mihai Țăruș.

In the creative activity, he manifested himself in portraiture, still life, genre painting, but also in scenography. Having to create and confirm himself under the restrictive conditions of the Soviet regime, he was an artist with a difficult fate, because he did not want to promote socialist realism in art. In this situation it was practically impossible to survive as a painter and for this reason he retired. He regretted wasting a lot of time...

"When I realized that I would never be able to reach Mihai Grecu's height, I gave up!"

Victor Rotaru is a remarkable artist whose personal and artistic choices have defined him in a unique way. He remained true to his own artistic vision and refused to submit to the ideological pressures of the age, demonstrating his courage to follow his own path in the art world.

The painting exhibition "Victor Rotaru: Reflections in Colors" can be visited between September 21 and October 21, 2023, in Room no. 1 of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Chisinau, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.