Museikon, the new icon museum, was opened to the public

The inauguration of the first icon and ancient books museum from Romania took place in Alba Iulia on April 28th 2017. The Museikon project, financed through EEA Grants, envisioned the conservation and restoration of a historical monument, the restoration of 52 icons and 15 old Romanian books to be included in the permanent exhibition.

The event gathered representatives of the local authorities, of the project partners, University Museum of Bergen, National Museum of Union Alba Iulia and Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia and many cultural personalities, professors and engineers. The event was covered by local and national mass-media.

After the opening speeches, Mr. Ion Dumitrel, Mr. Henrik von Achen, Mr. Gabriel Rustoiu and Mr. Dan Popescu, together with Mrs. Ana Dumitran and Mrs. Eli Kristine Ǿkland Hausken received recognition of their involvement in the project from His Eminence Irineu, Archbishop of Alba Iulia. The Archbishop received in return from the local authorities a diploma printed at the press similar to Gutenberg’s.

Museikons cultural offer includes a permanent exhibition gathering 100 icons painted on wood and glass, ancient books and religious objects, but the museum will also host exhibitions of contemporary artists. The typography and painting workshops provide a space for experiments. The typography workshop invites the visitors to discover the story of writing and other interesting facts on manual printing. Annually, summer schools for students, curators and restoration experts will be organized.

Important archaeological findings during the restoration works were capitalized through a debate area for national and local history.