Tyragetia (Dec 2020)
The system of legislative acts on cultural institutions of Romania after the Great Unification. Museum aspects
Abstract
The article discusses the formation of the structure of institutions and the regulatory framework of the Romanian museum system in the interwar period on the specific example of Bessarabian museums as its component, which is reflected in the legislative and museum documents of that time. In developing this question, the author used archival data, in particular documents from the National Archives of Bucharest, studied the issues of the “Official Monitor of Romania” for the interwar period and several works on the topic published in the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Touching upon the structure of the museum system, the author emphasizes the diverse nature of the institutions involved in coordinating museum activities, which was not always beneficial, as their work was difficult to coordinate and coordinate. In the interwar period, the Romanian government adopted various directives, regulations, plans for the organization and functioning of the museum system, but the Law on the Organization of Public Libraries and Museums, adopted in 1932, remains the main legislative act in the interwar period. The interwar period is considered a decisive stage in the development of national museography. It was during this period that the profiles of museum institutions were determined, specialized museums were created, and modern scientific and organizational principles are the basis of this process. During this period, the museum was considered as a cultural and educational tool and as a scientific institution; its task is to promote awareness of national unity. The consolidation of a unitary national state was also carried out through cultural institutions, including museums, the museum network and the legislative framework for managing museums were developed. Legislation equates museums with scientific research institutes. Regarding the organization of thematic museums, it should be noted that interwar legislation covered this issue, but economic difficulties and political unrest after the Great Unification did not allow the application of the provisions of the relevant law in Bessarabia. No concrete measures have been taken to create a museum network in Bessarabia. In the interwar period, many museums appeared, especially in villages. But no museum of military history was created in Bessarabia during this period, there was no historical museum that Paul Gore and Ştefan Ciobanu advocated the creation of, an ethnographic museum was not organized, although Petre Ştefănucă developed the concept of a Bessarabian ethnographic museum and asked for understanding and support from the Romanian government in the organization of such an institution. The integration of Bessarabia into the Great Romania was a difficult process, for museums the period 1918-1940 was rather difficult: uncertainty, indifference, incompetence, economic crises had grave consequences. We believe that in regards of museums, Chişinău should occupy at least an equal position with Cluj, Iaşi, Chernivtsi. But museum traditions of the previous period continued to develop here only partially. Bessarabians did not always strive to collect and preserve evidence of material and spiritual life; not all citizens recognized the necessity and importance of museums. In the 1930s, there were 20 museums in Bucharest, but the situation was different in Bessarabia: of the regional museums there was only one in Chişinău; county museums were not registered in the interwar period; the municipal museum, an art gallery, appears only in 1939 in Chişinău; there were three church museums, one appeared in 1906; school museums and rural museums were not officially registered as independent units, their exact number is unknown. The list of Bessarabian cities with museums includes only two cities: Chişinău and Akkerman. It must be recognized that the only museum that continued to function normally was the Museum of Natural History in Chişinău.
