How a museum was born

Țigănenești is a former potters' village in the Bessarabian codries. At the beginning of 2018, on the initiative of the Piscu School, noticing a series of coincidences that link us, the village of Piscu/jud.Ilfov/RO - also a former potters' village - twinned with the village of Țigănești/r. Strășeni/MD. It was the beginning of a tenuous friendship, which became a brotherhood and has been carried on to the present day, with cultural and educational actions dedicated to the young generation of the village and the still spectacular local heritage as points of reference. Summer schools, camps across the Prut, collection of ethnographic objects from the community, interviews with the older generation, video documentaries, revitalization of the craft of clay toys.

Țigănești is a former potters' village in the Bessarabian codirs. At the beginning of 2018, on the initiative of the Piscu School, noticing a series of coincidences that link us, the village of Piscu/jud.Ilfov/RO - also a former potters' village - twinned with the village of Țigănești/r. Strășeni/MD. It was the beginning of a tenuous friendship, which became a brotherhood and has been carried on to the present day, with cultural and educational actions dedicated to the young generation of the village and the still spectacular local heritage as points of reference. Summer schools, camps across the Prut, collection of ethnographic objects from the community, interviews with the older generation, video documentaries, revitalization of the craft of clay toys.

Old school, new school

All started in 2018 and had as first result the birth of the Museum-Workshop "Zestrea Țigăneștiului". The museum was organized in the building of the former school, located in the courtyard of the current gymnasium. The place currently hosts cultural actions dedicated to the students of Țigănești. In January 2018 it was just a converted warehouse. However, it preserved the white stone parament and a certain majesty generated by the symmetry of the facade and the wide staircase leading to the main entrance. These were the elements that caught our attention, prompting us to ask to explore the interior and to immediately propose the creation of a museum space in the building.

Restoration

With the extraordinary support of the local community, we started collecting objects: pots, bark, other household artifacts from the time of the domestic crafts. They were followed by 3 trophies brought for their protection from the village cemetery. Pieces dating from the late 19th century, they were deteriorating every year. They were stabilized by restorer Ghenadie Popescu and put on display. The biggest challenge was to transform a space tormented by many layers of poor finishes into a setting fit for a museum exhibition. The solution was to go back to primary materials. After stripping away areas of faience, plaster and various plasters, the work was done with earth plaster, straw and dung, trod by local women and finished with lime. For the floor, roof tiles brought from Piscu were used, laid on cement, then sanded and treated.

Children's play

The children of the village were present at the works, helping where they could. In workshops dedicated to them, they explored and drew the village trophies themselves, generating an important piece in the exhibition, the frieze of trophies realized in linocut technique. The children participated in the collection of objects, witnessed the birth of the exhibition, and in the years that followed, piece by piece, discovered the story of life in the past through the artifacts in the museum. They pottered for the first time, they learned how to model "țuruiecs", clay toys with whistle, specific to the village, they participated in the cultural heritage workshop, and they went through the history of the Romanian space through the monuments and UNESCO heritage sites.

Cultural activities

In September 2018, less than 2 months after the sustained start of the works, a first inauguration of the Museum-Workshop Zestrea Țigăneștiului Museum-Workshop took place with the participation of members of the local community, museum people from the Republic of Moldova and a team of officials from Ilfov County. The museum currently hosts cultural activities for children from the village and is occasionally visited by people from outside the community. The summer school "Our Țigăneștiu" - 1st edition was part of the project "Țigănești-Piscu-Țigănești - stories alike across the Prut mirror", initiated and implemented by the Piscu School and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration.