#Exhibit of the Month

Manufactured in 1902 by AG vorm Siedel & Nauman in Dresden, Germany.

Dimensions: Length - 38 cm, Width - 35 cm, Height - 20 cm. Weight - 16 kg. It entered the museum collection in 1984, transferred from the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History.

The typewriter features a standard carriage mounted on ball bearings and rollers, along with a keyboard equipped with 42 keys. These contain two complete sets of Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, punctuation marks, numbers, and mathematical symbols, enabling the typing of 126 characters. Beneath the metal casing, the type bars are arranged in a fan-like pattern, holding embossed characters and ink ribbon rollers. When the keys are pressed, the type bars strike the inked ribbon, imprinting characters onto the paper tensioned in the machine's roller system.

The side panels are elegantly decorated with refined cast-iron elements in the Art Nouveau style, displaying the brand name - "Ideal." The Polyglott model, featuring a bilingual keyboard patented in the United Kingdom by Max Klaczko from Riga, Latvia, was produced between 1902 and 1913, marking the first typewriter capable of writing in two languages. The "Ideal Polyglott" typewriter was actively sold in the Russian Empire and gained significant popularity in Poland, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
The typewriter - a mechanical device used for printing text directly onto paper - ranks among the most important inventions of the modern era, as it revolutionized communication. From the late 19th century to the early 21st century, it became an indispensable tool, widely used by writers, in offices, for business correspondence, and in private homes. The peak of typewriter sales occurred in the 1950s when the average annual sales in the United States reached 12 million units. In November 2012, the British Brother factory produced what it claimed to be the last typewriter, which was donated to the Science Museum in London.
The advent of computers, word processing software, printers, and the decreasing cost of these technologies led to the typewriter's disappearance from the mainstream market, turning it into a museum exhibit.
June 23 marks Typewriter Day, commemorating the date when American journalist and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented his typewriter. This day celebrates the simple yet revolutionary device that has become history, as well as the remarkable literary achievements it has enabled since 1868.

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Events Archive

The National Fair of the Carpet „COVORUL DORULUI” 5th edition

December 16, 2018

The National Fair of the Carpet was organised for the 5th consecutive year by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research in the contextxt of the promotion of the ellement "Traditional techniques of weaving carpets in Romania and the Republicof Moldova" which was inscribed on the UNESCO's Representaative List of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity of December 1, 2016.

The aim of the National Fair of the Carpet is to valorize the authentic Romanian rug and the rugs of other ethnicities living in the Republic of Moldova, to discover the basic motifs and symbols of the carpets, and to familiarize with the traditions and customs of the inhabitants of Moldova. The mistletoe caroling, which is part of the Universal Heritage from 2013, will be the key moment of the artistic program.

The 5th edition of the National Fair of the Carpet was held simultaneously in three national museums: the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History (Mihail Kogălniceanu Street, no. 82), the National Museum of History of Moldova (31 August Street, no. 121A) and the National Art Museum of Moldova (31 August Street, no. 115).

PROGRAM:

14:00-15:00 National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History

The official opening of the event, as well as the opening of the exhibition "The Image of the World woven onto Wool" with carpets from the museum collections, as well as 12 ponevi (thick cloth of wool, cotton and other materials from which are made carpets) from the collections of the Museum of the Criş Country in Oradea (Romania). The first part of the event included a vast informative and fun musical program with many representations of carpet weaving traditions, as well as numerous creative and interactive workshops. In the courtyard of the museum was organized a peasant household where visitors had the opportunity to taste traditional dishes.

15:30-16:30 National Museum of History of Moldova

The museum became a place of interaction between different ethnic groups living in the Republic of Moldova, a meeting place for many cultures, languages and traditions. In the hall of the museum were presented the most beautiful winter traditions of Bulgarians, Ukrainians, and Gagauzians. Workshops were organized by experienced weavers from the "Rustic Art" Craftsmen Complex from Clişova. The exhibitions and workshops were accompanied by a musical performance, which included pieces from the folklore of minorities living in Moldova. Visitors were also able to admire the exhibition "The Magic of the Old Carpet", which includes selected pieces from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova from the 18th - beginning of the 20th century, some of which are exhibited for the first time. In the museum courtyard was arranged an artisan craft fair.

17:00-18:00 National Art Museum of Moldova

Was opened the exhibition "Tradition and Modernity" with a display of artworks signed by Mihai Grecu, Elena Bontea, Vladimir Palamarciuc and woven artworks by Elena Rotaru, Silvia Vrânceanu, Andrei Negură, Maria Saca-Răcilă and others.

The binder that secured the connection between different locations and compartments was the Winter Parade of Traditional Costume. Special guests at the National Fair of the Carpet were: the group Flori de măr from Râșca, Suceava; Folkloric group Glasul Odăieșilor, Galați County; Group Cerbul from Heleșteni, Iași.

Event partners: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Moldova, Primex Com, MIMI Castle.

Media partner: Publika TV