Exhibitions in Kőszeg, or a museum in a specific situation within a museum town
MúzeumCafé 43.
Kőszeg on Hungary’s western border is rich in listed buildings. Its endowments are outstanding for a town with hardly 12,000 residents and which is not easily reached from Budapest, but then regional connections, including the relative proximity of Vienna and Graz have been more significant for Kőszeg’s history and development. According to its 2013 deed of foundation, the Kőszeg Town Museum has four partner institutes and one of these is itself an exhibition. With this you have a hint of the specific situation which characterises an institute transformed in 2013 from a branch institute of the Vas County Museum Directorate into a local museum funded by the town. From the disadvantaged situation of being a branch institute of the county, with continuous financial problems and limited possibilities, in the new situation its director regards the possibility of planning as the most important. In 2013, the first year of town funding, the institute received 23.7 million forints of state support, while this year the figure is 25.5 million. The town, which also funds the local library and cultural centre, has had to match this with 1.5 million (2.2 million in 2014). For the past 18 months the museum has proved that it offers quality and has played a significant role in the life of the town. Yet the matter is not so simple and clear since the town’s image is built around the castle, which itself does not belong to the museum, only the exhibition held there. The difficulties are felt by the Kőszeg Town Museum itself, though its management is striving to overcome the problems. The museum’s major problem is its positioning in the Kőszeg municipality. What does it mean for a museum to be in a town which itself is a living museum? What are the motives and arguments which justify and support its individual situation?