Culture is what brings the people closer and also what shows that they are different in a larger community. Even if it is an event that is considered rather political, the EPC Summit that Moldova will host is a big opportunity for everyone, regardless of the area of activity, to show to the whole world that the Republic of Moldova has what to integrate with into the European community, has what to offer and is also ready to receive, director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature Maria Shleahtitski said in a public debate staged by IPN.
“Even if the emphasis and interest are political and geopolitical in character and we realize why, culture is an indispensable condition for the existence of the citizens in this state and of the state in general. We must show unity as citizens of the Republic of Moldova at least during several days, but we should ensure this unity permanently so as to manage to become a member of the European Union during a predictable period of time and benefit from democracy and surely respect the same laws as the European citizens do,” stated Maria Shleahtitski.
According to her, the European community wants Moldova to contribute to the richness of the European culture through the particularities that define us as a nation. “I once took part in a debate in Vienna and we tried to say that we were as they were and we had the same subjects, etc. The questions that came from the hall were, what do you have and we don’t have? The people want to see what value added, what cultural, civilizational experience we can bring into the EU. Consequently, culture offers this possibility, to show what unites us and what makes us different,” said Maria Shleahtitski.
Asked if the museums in Moldova are now competitive at European level and can be easily included into European tourist routes, Maria Shleahtitski said that some of them have proper spaces, but all of them have what to offer in terms of the heritage they house. “These museums have very rich heritage and reflect the contorted, difficult history of this part of Europe, which has been always disputed.
“We must be competitive in terms of the look of these museums and must modernize and update the ways of organizing exhibitions. We must be competitive in terms of languages in which the guided tours are organized and have the necessary headphones. We need to organize other kinds of activities too. We also should not forget about scientific heritage research and present the results at different meetings outside the county, at scientific symposiums, in catalogues,” stated Maria Shleahtitski.
She also said that important things are done for the museums in the Republic of Moldova to raise to the elves of the museums in the European countries. “This is a very important area. We have a lot of work to do here. We hope we will have access to European programs to develop the museums. A lot is being done in this regard. Serious steps were taken and I hope that we will manage to become competitive in our area with other European countries during a reasonable period of time,” opined the director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature.
The public debate entitled “European Political Community Summit, opportunities opened up for cultural interconnection” was the fifth installment of IPN’s project “Support for European Integration by stimulating discussion in the mass media about the European Political Community (EPC) Summit” that is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.
