MOLDOVA National Museum Complex is the largest museum organization in the eastern part of Romania. Its headquarters is in the Palace of Culture, a recently restored very famous neogothic edifice, which houses four main museums: the Art Museum of Iași, which continues the mission of the first art gallery of Romania, founded in 1860 within the first modern national Romanian university, Moldavia’s History Museum which has taken over the patrimony of the Antiques Museum founded in 1916 as part of the University of Iași, the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia, whose core was set in 1943, as well as “Ştefan Procopiu” Science and Technique Museum, whose collections were organized starting with 1955.
Also in the Palace of Culture operates the Heritage Research Center, which has scientific investigation and restoration laboratories adapted to the different types of materials composing the exhibits: stone, ceramic, wood, metal, textiles, paper etc., and which in 2015 celebrated 40 years of existence. MOLDOVA National Museum Complex also includes in its structure several satellite museums: the Union Museum of Iași, ”Mihail Kogălniceanu” Memorial Museum of Iași, “Poni-Cernătescu” Museum of Iași, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Palace of Ruginoasa, the Archeological Reserve-Museum of Cucuteni and the Wine and Vineyard Museum of Hârlău.
The PR and Cultural Projects, Programs and Marketing Department is subordinated directly to the Manager of the organization and serves all museums that are part of it, coordinating and implementing communication and education events addressed to all age categories.
The organization has 155 employees, of whom 75 are museum specialists working in the different departments, and assuring the good operation of the organization. MOLDOVA National Museum Complex is a dynamic institution, which adapts itself to the needs of the community and which continuously attempts to comply with the visitors’ expectations and knowledge needs. That is why, museum education programs have been integrated into our offer so to address not only to schools but also to the adult public whose learning needs are much more varied and context-related. Since 2016 when the Palace of Culture was reopened to the public, we have received annually more than 300.000 visitors (in all the museums that are part of the applicant organisation, but of course with the Palace of Culture being the most capacitating museum in terms of incoming visitors).
We are also involving in our activities voluntaries (about 50 persons/ year), and interns (from Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences – Communication Department, within “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, and also from the Faculty of Letters – various departments, within the same University).
Our museum organization is a non-discriminating institution, promoting integration irrespective of gender, age and ethnic origin.
Our specific objectives are:
To preserve, restore, collect, increase, present and valorize the cultural heritage
To educate through cultural heritage (including technical heritage) providing accessibility, quality and efficiency of educational activities for people of all ages and all nationalities
To support youth in various initiatives related to culture in general
To support the social integration and development of each individual, providing special attention and help to people facing the risk of social exclusion, or who suffer from any form of disability
To promote and disseminate activities related to education, life-long learning, e-learning, new technologies in education, social entrepreneurship and responsible usage of resources
To provide equal opportunities to all types of beneficiaries irrespectively of their social status, health condition, wealth status, origin, ethnicity, belief, religion, sexual orientation, personal choice, or any kind of discriminatory topic.
To contribute with all available means to reducing discrepancies within our society in terms of access to culture
To promote inclusive education in museum environments for all types of beneficiaries