Minimal architecture, maximum artistic effect The Louvre’s new affiliate in the Lens mining region MúzeumCafé 38. author: Orsolya Radványi The Louvre’s first provincial affiliate opened in a brand-new building in December 2012 with an exhibition quite different in concept from the one in the capital. The ‘popularisation’ of culture, the concept of serving the public living in impoverished, disadvantaged regions, has been one of the most important goals of French cultural policy in recent […]
Foundation, ecclesiastical and private museums An overview of institutes not maintained by the state and/or local authorities MúzeumCafé 38. author: Péter Hamvay In Hungary there are more than 100 museums maintained by church authorities and private or public foundations funded by non-profit or profit-making organisations, and there are 15 private individuals complying with the strict legal prescriptions relating to museums. True, the majority maintain a ‘museum’ for displaying a collection even if legally they cannot be considered […]
To use, not to wonder at, open-mouthed The Sándor Weöres exhibition at the Petőfi Museum of Literature MúzeumCafé 38. author: Katalin Hegyi, museologist, curator of the exhibition To mark the centenary of the birth of Sándor Weöres, the Petőfi Museum of Literature has organised an exhibition and a number of events. The primary aim when thinking about the memorial year was to present the entire poetry of Weöres, and for the events to be attractive for all age groups. The public is […]
Colonisation without colonies Hungarian plans for ethnographic collection in the world and the Balkans MúzeumCafé 38. author: János Gyarmati, ethnologist, head museologist at the Museum of Ethnography In October 1913 Vilibáld Semayer, director of the National Museum’s Ethnography Department, responded with a confidential proposal to an ordinance of the Ministry of Religion and Public Education, which had requested suggestions regarding the notion that the Balkans should look for the means of its cultural progress primarily in Hungary, that is Hungary should take […]
Matthias Corvinus, Florence and Parallel Histories Two exhibitions of the Budapest History Museum staged abroad MúzeumCafé 38. author: Péter Farbaky, art historian, deputy director of the Budapest History Museum and director of its Kiscell Museum In the autumn the Budapest History Museum took part in the staging of two significant exhibitions abroad. As part of Italy’s Hungarian Cultural Season, Mattia Corvino e Firenze (Matthias Corvinus and Florence) opened in the San Marco Museum, Florence. During the 2008 Year of the Renaissance the Budapest History Museum organised a major exhibition about […]
Hungarian Art on the way to world fame Allegro Barbaro in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris MúzeumCafé 38. author: By art historians Gergely Barki and Zoltán Rockenbauer, the Hungarian curators of the exhibition The Hungarian show in the Musée d’Orsay crowns ten years of research and cooperation relating to numerous exhibitions. We first participated in the series whose first phase included the exhibition Hungarian Fauves in the Hungarian National Gallery in 2006. The second phase involved exhibitions of The Eight in Pécs, Budapest and Vienna. However, it became […]
Temporary deposits turned permanent losses – The fate of works loaned from the collection of the National Picture Gallery to provincial museums Part 3: Nagybánya and Torda MúzeumCafé 38. author: Jenő Murádin, art historian The idea that, within the framework of the local museum of the mining town providing a home for the Nagybánya artists’ colony, there should be a gallery to display the works of artists working there, or who had settled there, arose practically at the same time as the foundation of the colony itself, in 1896. […]
What can a museum gain and lose if it is obliged to economise by having shorter opening hours in the winter? MúzeumCafé 38. According to Imre Tóth, director of the Sopron Museum, it depends whether the possibilities have been identified. In the long run new solutions, financial policies and practices have to be formed, and new functions have to be given to museum spaces which are temporarily or even permanently closed. Accepted practices have appeared embodying concepts which […]
The position of Germany’s art history and museum research within the structure of German research MúzeumCafé 38. author: Brigitta Iványi-Bitter It is a general belief that museums have to rethink their future roles in society and answer questions concerning what kind of museum structure will be appropriate for the future, what kind of social tasks they should undertake, and what financial resources will be required. Within this perspective museum research has assumed high priority in […]
Everything which begins with ‘A’ and ends with ‘dy’ A conversation with István Gazdag, collector and Ady researcher MúzeumCafé 37. author: Zoltán Rockenbauer István Gazdag is a teacher of Hungarian, history and art. A fan of Endre Ady and his poetry, since he was at secondary school he has been collecting anything and everything connected with the poet. Today his collection includes more than 10,000 items, including first editions of all of Ady’s volumes, plus just about all […]