The first collections of the Csángó Ethnographical Museum were born under the initiative of Ferenc Pozsony. In 1974 the continuously growing collection was placed into a peasant house built at the beginning of the 20th century. In the next decade the collection was extended with objects from different ethnographic regions of Transylvania and Moldavia. The first exhibition was organized in 1993 with the title: "Traditional Folk Art of Zăbala". The first the permanent exhibion called "The Traditional Folk Art of the Moldavian Csángós" was opened on September 14. 2003, within a festive event. the professional inventory, administration and description of the collection was carried out step by step by the ethnography students of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca. In 2004 Pro Museum Association was founded, the owner of the collections and the immovables. From 2005 the Museum is an external Department of the Sekler National Museum of Sfântu Gheorghe, Covasna County. In 2007 we started the accreditation process of the Museum and its inclusion into the national museal circuit of Romania. The exhibitions can be visited since 2003. The Csángó Ethnographical Museum – as a Department of the Sekler National Museum – received a preliminary notification of functioning in December 2007 from the Ministry of Culture, Cults and National Patrimony. The institution is supported by the Local Council of Zăbala, by Covasna County Council as well as by different cultural foundations.
The most valuable part of this collection is represented by ceramic tiles. Among the 200 pieces we can find some from the 15th–19th century, manufactured under the influence of Rennaisance, Rococo and Classicism. The scientific research on the tiles found at Zăbala and deposited in the Museum produced several papers published in specific volumes. From the 200 pieces we managed to take stock and describe different bowls, jugs and other ceramics collected from the village and its surroundings. A part of these are the works of local craftsmen from the 18th–19th centuries, but we also have products from Corund, Mădăraș, Bârsănești, Satul Nou, Iara, Vadul Crișului, Rădăuți, Vama, Turda and Zalău.
The Saxon collection of our museum was realized at the end of the 20th century, and it was exhibited in Tg. Mureș, Cluj-Napoca, Sf. Gheorghe, Sighișoara and Zăbala. It includes first of all traditional festive costumes, interior textiles, different pieces of furniture and ceramics, coming from the regions of Sibiu, Sighișoara, Țara Bârsei. With the help of these items we are able to represent the change within the Transylvanian Saxon culture and lifestyle during the 19th and 20th century. In addition to the collection of objects there is a rich photo and documentary material available.
This collection of furniture represents the culture of peasant interiors from the 18th–19th–20th centuries. The most valuable items of this collection were manufactured in the 18th century. The most valuable dowry chests were painted in the 19th century. The collection hosts several pieces of furniture from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, showing a strong influence of Secession. The interiors from the first part of the 20th century are the best documented ones, the collection containing complete pieces of furniture from several peasant houses.
This collection consists of textiles related to family life, to interiors, to everyday and economic life. In the last few years we managed to collect several complete dowries from the interwar period.
The Sekler costumes collected in the settlement expose a changing process from the beginning of the 20th century to our present days. Thus we can trace the evolution of the modernizing region's popular costume.
The ethnographic collection of Zăbala contains numerous articles of personal and everyday use: containers, water jugs, salt cellars, hand mills, grain mortars, wood skates, hammer, grain shovel, umbrella, fire tong etc.
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