by Steluţa Pârâu
ASPECTS RELATED TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ETHNOGRAPHY AND FOLK ART MUSEUM The Ethnography and Folk Art Museum represents one of the four museums which form the Institute for Ecomuseum Research in Tulcea (founded in 1993) following the reorganization of the Danube Delta Museum (a museum complex which included four sections: archaeology and history, ethnography and folk art, fine arts, and natural science). The permanent folk art exhibition (Dobrujan Folk Art in the context of Romanian Folk Art) was opened in 1989 (in the building located at 4, 9 Mai Street). Its theme included a comparison between Dobrujan decorative woven fabrics and costumes and those from the remainder of Romanian territory. In 2002, the permanent exhibition was re-organized so as to highlight the specific features of the area in the presentation. Initially a temporary exhibition, called Old people, places and customs, was organized, but subsequently, through the museum adding complementary materials, it was finalized under the title Dobruja and its inhabitants. Under this new form of organization, urban ethnographic aspects were also presented (images from old Tulcea, urban furniture, etc). In 2002, a section of the exhibition was organized in the open air, which included the presentation of some of the traditional occupations and crafts (agriculture, viticulture, iron processing, wood processing, transportation means). In 2005, following the restitution of the building, located at 4, 9 Mai Street, to its former owners, the Ethnography and Folk Art Museum was given, by Decision of the County Council (April 8, 2005), the building of the former headquarters of the National Bank (2, 9 Mai Street). The edifice is mentioned in the List of Historical Monuments. Following the move to the new headquarters, temporary exhibitions were organized, while outside the open air section was re-organized, including the presentation of traditional occupations and crafts from the area. In the summer of 2006, works were initiated with a view to rehabilitating the building. The permanent exhibition, which was housed in the new headquarters and which had the theme of Dobruja and its inhabitants, was conceived in such a manner that, at the level of the museum, it could represent the contemporary issue of the local cultural identity in the context of globalization. Such a theme was necessary both due to the contemporary issue, which we mentioned above, and to the specific features of the area. MUSEUM LOCATIONS INCLUDED IN THE ETHNOGRAPHY AND FOLK ART MUSEUMS: · The Ethnography and Folk Art Museum – Tulcea, 2, 9 Mai Street· The peasant household preserved in situ (The Dobrujan Village Museum) – Enisala Village, Sarichioi · The Eastern Art Exhibition – Babadag· The Panait Cerna Memorial House – Cerna · The vernacular architecture spot (The House from Banatului Street) – Tulcea, 2, Banatului St. Each of these locations plays a well-defined role in the museum presentation of the ethnographic patrimony of the area, including traditional and urban architecture, the range of instruments necessary in order to fulfill occupational requirements, and crafts related to the menial textile industry and woven fabrics, the patrimony of the Romanian population and that of the various minorities.
by Steluţa Pârâu
by Steluţa Pârâu