Rediscovering heritage: Night of Museums in the Villages

The Night of Museums in the Villages will take place on Saturday, August 31, in more than 128 localities, from 31 counties of Romania. Unique in Europe, the project organized and carried out by the National Network of Museums highlights the Romanian rural cultural heritage, by bringing together, presenting and promoting more than 136 museum objectives, educational and cultural events and programs from Romania, available free of charge to visitors from the second part of the day of August 31, until midnight.

• The festive atmosphere of the villages

According to the organizers: "Visitors are invited to connect with the festive atmosphere of Romania's villages and communes and to discover unique ethnographic museum collections, memorial houses, village cultural centers, dowry boxes and spectacular bridges from peasant households, parish museums, settlements, archives , fascinating rituals and histories, mills, fairy cells, mausoleums, castles, fortified churches, fabulous trails of blue houses and signs of master painters, museums of the teacher, children, mining, amber or vineyard and wine, fire services, blacksmiths and many other surprises. As we are used to at the international event Noaptea Muzeelor, the smaller, local and rural brother Noaptea Muezeelor la Sate invites the public with free access to all the registered objectives. The counties with the most representatives are Braşov (18 objectives), Iaşi (13 objectives), Satu Mare (12 objectives), Vrancea (8 objectives), Maramureş and Sibiu (6 objectives)".

• Specific projects

As in the first edition, the Night of Museums in the Villages includes a series of one-off projects to recover the forgotten heritage, increase the level of literacy and exposure to culture and heritage of children and young people from rural communities. The organizers claim that it is an approach of cultural archeology, which, in each edition, brings to light invaluable values of Romania that are little seen, but very valuable: "For the current edition, a whole team of cultural educators has been set up, which will travel in localities from Neamţ, Vaslui and Giurgiu counties to run a series of demonstrative educational programs. The coordinator of the micro-project is Iulia Iordan. Also, the Cultural Memorial Center Association «Dr. Gh. Telea Bologa», partner of the Night of Museums in the Villages, intervenes creatively and pedagogically in the rural communities of Noul Român, Arpaşu de Sus and Arpaşu de Jos, in Sibiu county. Through the "Influencers for my village" project, children from these three localities are trained in repertory, interpretation and valorization actions of the rural cultural heritage of Fagaras County. The coordinator of the micro-project is Cristina Ioana Dan. The third micro-project under the umbrella of the Night of Museums in the Villages 2024 consists of a campaign to rummage through the households and attics of houses in Sălaj county. The intention of the organizers is to reveal the contemporary dowry of the Romanian village, hidden objects that can be recovered and donated to private collections in the area. The coordinator of this micro-project is Patricia Toma"

The news of the Night of Museums in the Villages was also given by the Romanian Post Company, which sent over 20,000 invitation postcards through its network.