After decades of giving rise to ruins in the process of post-socialist deindustrialization, the city of Chişinău witnessed, in the summer of 2024, the opening of a few independent organisations, alongside news of the imminent closure of others, and the surprise announcement of ministerial plans for the future opening of a new major public institution: a museum of contemporary art .More than 40 artists and cultural workers who gathered at the September forum had the opportunity to write down anonymously their take on the needs and situation of the local scene, claiming the right to the public institution as a natural part of access to public space.

Here are some of the points raised on index cards distributed in the public and collected at the end of the forum:

1) The general state of precariousness of cultural workers and artists. Some mentioned the feeling of being abandoned in the past decade by the authorities.

2) The urgent need for workspaces (artist studios, rehearsal spaces, show spaces).

3) The urgent need for change in the general situation of cultural workers and in the management of the cultural sector.

4) The need for international events organized locally.

5) The need for a public institution with multiple functions: for exhibition as well as for education, production, and residences.

6) The desire not only for a generic common space but for a space that brings together compatible practices of the people and groups who become part of this new public institution.

7) Requests for a common space for visual artists and urban activists.

8) The participation of the artists and cultural workers in both the planning and management of the new cultural institution.

9) The public institution as an exit from the situation of working from project to project.

10) The role of public institutions to defend the autonomy of the arts from the creative industries of the private market.

As of June 2025, there is no news about any further plans for the museum.

Context

On March 29, 2024, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova made a special announcement that took the local scene of Moldovan artists and cultural works by surprise. The minister, standing alone in an abandoned industrial hall, published a video of a press conference without the press, announcing the Ministry’s plans for the creation of a Center for Contemporary Arts and Culture. The Center was to be instituted in the now unused and degraded building of the former industrial typography “Universul”, in a space of “over 14000 sq.m”. “There will be studios of creation for artists, art galleries... We want to re-animate the cultural life of the historical center of the capital and to honor our promises towards the independent artists and the NGOs from the cultural sector, the creative community and the art consumers”.[1]

The cultural project was to be financed with money obtained from selling the land of the former Republican Stadium, situated in the center of the Moldovan capital, for the construction of a new base of the US Embassy.[2] The minister proudly declared that the project of the new US embassy would involve “at least 250 million USD”, while the Universal project would get 10-15 million USD.

The independent scene of Moldovan artists and cultural workers from Chişinău had previously self-organized into a Consultative Forum in November 2023. The Consultative Forum convened regularly in order to keep each other informed, to discuss and iron out disagreeable differences, and to react to events concerning the common interests of cultural workers. Following the press conference of the Ministry of Culture, the Consultative Forum held a meeting and published a note on their position.[3] In the statement, the writers welcomed the official recognition, for the first time, of the need for spaces for local contemporary artists and cultural workers, but pleaded that the Ministry find alternative financial sourcing, as well as developing a model of governance of the Center that would include and integrate the artists and cultural workers. The statement articulated the clear refusal of the local artists to be involved in a process of “art washing” and cultural extractivism, and asked the Ministry to open a process of consultation with the purported beneficiaries of the Center themselves, in order to conceive the new institution based on the real needs of the cultural sector.

After an initial lack of response, the Ministry of Culture announced a consultative process over a few days (July 31 – August 3), with the involvement of the Danish Cultural Institute. In reaction, the Consultative Forum reiterated the common position of the independent sector, asking the Ministry to confirm its commitment both in terms of vision and through financial support.

On September 15, 2024, at the “neutral venue” of the National Art Museum in Chişinău, the forum “A New Center for Contemporary Arts - What is it Good For?” was organized, using the resources of the exhibition “Images of the Good Life in the East,” which took place in three different art spaces the previous day. The forum brought potential international allies with experience in the creation and management of a center for contemporary arts or of a major artistic event in the cultural life of a city, such as a biennial. The presentations focused on the international and local context of the creation of such institutions, on the conditions of sustainability, the relevance of a biennial or museum, and the challenges of separating the social and cultural value of arts from the economical dimension. During the forum, the local participants were invited to write down their opinions about the resident needs and dreams for such an institution anonymously.

As of September 2025, there are no rehabilitation works that have started at the typography Universal, and the US Embassy has not started construction works at its new base in Chişinău. However, the Moldovan Ministry of Culture has invited a group of European experts in cultural management. A number of cultural organizations are threatened with eviction from their current spaces, with no clear alternatives in sight. The Consultative Forum of the Independent Scene of Moldova has convened another meeting, asking again to be part of the process.

Ovidiu Ţichindeleanu (b.1976) is a Romanian philosopher, culture theorist, translator and educator, and writes and teaches on critical social theory, the history and philosophy of the senses, decolonial and intercultural thought, artistic practices in Eastern Europe, and the cultural histories of socialism and postsocialism. Ţichindeleanu is a member of the Editorial Board of L’Internationale Online (https://internationaleonline.org/); of the Transnational Board of European Alternatives (https://euroalter.com/transnational-board, 2023-present); of the Romanian artist-run cooperative The Experimental Research Station for Art and Life; and of the Moldovan association The Center for Contemporary Arts Chişinău (KSA:K).