Muzee ale comunismului și povestea unei ștampile. O recenzie a expozițiilor dedicate din Brașov și din Berlin

This review aims to bring together two private museums whose theme is largely similar: life in a communist country. The exhibition of the Museum of Memories from Communism in Brașov responded to the shortcomings in Romanian state-owned museums to cover a timeframe from recent history. To put the exhibition into perspective, after I present it and consider its museological features, I briefly bring into discussion the DDR Museum from Berlin. I focus not only on the visible part of the two – that is, the exhibition, but I also go backstage after connecting with those responsible for these two private museological endeavors, in order to discern the collecting undertakings and their role in the wider frame of museums landscape in a former communist country. Finally, after my visiting experience with both exhibitions and an unwilling / unfortunate entanglement with communist practices that are still up and running (the almost-failure of having a form stamped), I reflect on the role of a museum in providing deeper understanding of socio-cultural practices that affect our (not only institutional) lives up to our days.