“I’m doing this only for the sake of Attila”
Renewal of the Attila József Memorial House in Balatonszárszó
MúzeumCafé 29.
A lot is known about Attila József, but what is known is not always the same. We are familiar with the stages of his life and his oeuvre has been analysed. It might seem a simple task to devise a timely memorial display about Attila József. Yet it’s not so easy, as shown by the story of the renewal last year of the Attila József Memorial House in Ba-latonszárszó. Ilona H. Bagó, a museologist at the Petőfi Museum of Literature for 30 years, was the curator of the new exhibition. József spent the last days of his life in Balatonszárszó. The building became the Attila József Memorial Museum in 1954. Balatonszárszó is still a place of pilgrimage for the poet’s devotees. Besides plans for the interior, reconstruction of the building’s original condition was an important issue. The plans for renovation were prepared by the chief architect of Kaposvár, who is also involved with monument protection. The display is not linear, since our memory of the poet isn’t particularly chronological. There are few objects in the exhibition, for which there is a simple reason – the poet left virtually nothing behind. The exhibition can’t avoid the issue of his suicide. There are as many versions as there are recollections concerning what happened on 3 December 1937, which the display makes clear. The Somogy county authority managed to include renovation of the building in an EU tourism development project. The tender application was submitted in 2009 and was announced as successful on 11 July 2011. Then everything was done within seven months – renovation, the exhibition and accompanying publications. The exhibition is ready, but the work is not over. The courtyard of the building has been transformed into a mini-amphitheatre. During the summer concerts and readings can be held here every evening.