TAG

#culture

20 articles
Illustration: the warm interior of a library, with tall shelves full of books and a reading table under soft light, no identifiable people.
LOCAL

8,473 readers, a third of the town: Ungheni's «Dimitrie Cantemir» library turns 80

The «Dimitrie Cantemir» District Public Library in Ungheni enters its eighth decade in 2026. It began in 1946 in an ordinary house, with 200 books and some 100 readers; today the library and its branches in town hold a collection of more than 96,000 documents and 8,473 registered users — about 32% of the town's population, according to its own report. The exact founding date and any anniversary programme are not yet public.

Ion Calmis·30 June 2026· News
2/3 confirmed · PEOPLE — pending· got a tip? write to us →
The two façade-modernisation options for the Palace of Culture in Ungheni, shown side by side: on the left Option 1, in light tones of cream, grey and wood; on the right Option 2, with a contrasting anthracite grey.
LOCAL

Ungheni residents pick how the Palace of Culture will look: two options, voting until Wednesday morning

Ungheni City Hall has opened a public vote on the exterior look of the Palace of Culture, now undergoing an energy-efficiency overhaul. There are two façade options — one in light tones of cream, light grey and wood, the other with a contrasting anthracite grey — and residents can choose through an online form until Wednesday, 1 July, 8.00. The works are part of a cross-border project with Iași, funded through Interreg.

Ion Calmis·29 June 2026· News
2/3 confirmed · DATA — pending· got a tip? write to us →
Illustration: diverse hands building together, on a table, a model of a community cultural space — a symbol of European-funded co-creation; warm tones, no identifiable faces.
LOCAL

Who in Ungheni can get EU money for culture? Two calls close on 20 July

Ungheni District Council has announced two funding calls under the European programme EU4Culture II — a €10 million programme, funded by the EU and implemented by the Goethe-Institut, that also covers the Republic of Moldova. The application deadline is 20 July 2026. In the programme's first edition, only Cahul and Orhei won from Moldova; Ungheni was not among them — even though the town already has a cultural scene watered by European money.

Ion Calmis·25 June 2026· Explainer
2/3 confirmed · PEOPLE — pending· got a tip? write to us →
An exhibition wall of framed black-and-white photographs of a village of old, in a warmly lit library reading room.
LOCAL

A village in Ungheni district entered sociology textbooks 95 years ago. Gusti's Cornova returns to Ungheni — in photographs

In the summer of 1931, a team of 55 scholars led by sociologist Dimitrie Gusti descended on a village in today's Ungheni district and studied it down to the last detail — the first Bessarabian village ‘read' scientifically. The expedition's photographer, Iosif Berman, left images that made history. Ninety-five years on, a son of the village, Vasile Șoimaru, sets them beside his own photographs of today. The exhibition opens on Thursday, 25 June, at the “Dimitrie Cantemir” Library in Ungheni.

Ion Calmis·23 June 2026· Explainer
Dancers in folk costumes spin the hora in Micul Cluj Park in Ungheni, at the “Hai la Joc și voie bună” show.
LOCAL

Ten years of twinning with Cluj: the hora returns to the stage in Micul Cluj Park

On Sunday, three ensembles turned the stage in Micul Cluj Park into an evening of dance and song, under the “Cultural Summer in the Park” banner of the House of Culture. Beyond the “Hai la Joc și voie bună” show, the story is about how a park named in honour of the twin city of Cluj-Napoca has become, summer after summer, Ungheni's great open-air hall — and the next big event is the Sânziene festival, on 5 July.

Ion Calmis·22 June 2026· Explainer
Women in traditional aprons and headscarves plaster the wall of an old house with clay, buckets and a basin of mortar beside them, in the green museum yard
LOCAL

In Florițoaia Veche, villagers mud-plastered the wall of the „La Prispa lui Vasile” museum — a clacă like their grandparents'

On 13 June, in the yard of the „La Prispa lui Vasile” house-museum in Florițoaia Veche, villagers mixed clay with straw and plastered the wall of a museum annex the old way. A clacă — the communal, voluntary work-bee of the past — organised by the Ungheni Culture Section, the „Țărăncuța” folk ensemble and the local town hall. In a district that has shrunk by almost a quarter in a decade, a village museum keeping tradition alive carries particular weight.

Ion Calmis·19 June 2026· News
Illustration: embroidered Moldovan folk blouses and costumes laid out on a wooden table beside coloured threads, in warm light.
LOCAL

Mănoilești takes its embroidered blouses out of the chest ahead of 28 June — the National Day of Folk Costume

At the end of June, when the Republic of Moldova marks the National Day of Folk Costume, the commune of Mănoilești in the Ungheni district is preparing its own celebration of traditional dress. Behind it stand a network of volunteers, the village House of Culture and the library — and a tradition that, in the Ungheni district, has in other years gathered seven localities. The programme is now confirmed: this year's edition takes place on 28 June, from 16.00, in the village park, with special guests Stela Botez, Petronela Popa and the “Șoimanii” ensemble.

Ion Calmis·19 June 2026· Explainer
Illustration: a children's reading corner in a library — shelves of colourful books, open books on a low table and an armchair; warm light, no people in the frame.
EDUCATION & HEALTH

How Ungheni’s libraries hold on in a district with ever fewer children

A donation of children's books, made by writer Elena Vizir to a library in Ungheni, looks like a small gesture. Set against the official figures, it touches a nerve: over two decades, the book stock of the district's libraries has thinned by a quarter — and yet people use them more than fifteen years ago. In a district losing its young people, a library full of children is no longer a banality, but news.

Ion Calmis·17 June 2026· News
Illustration: a bright art studio with colourful paintings on easels and a rolled diploma with a ribbon on a wooden table.
EDUCATION & HEALTH

80 young people graduated from Ungheni's art school, named after Raisa Cojocaru

The Art School in Ungheni held its 2026 graduation: 80 children and teenagers (74 from the fourth-year classes and 6 from the fifth year) finished their years of drawing, painting and sculpture, according to the City Hall. The school bears the name of Raisa Cojocaru, who led it for almost four decades, and has a tradition of over 57 years. And the stakes are higher than a ceremony: in a district that has lost more than half of its young people in twelve years, every generation trained at home counts.

Ion Calmis·17 June 2026· News