Modernism and Biopolitics The Social Welfare Museum of the Past author: ŐZE ESZTER The Museum of Public Health had changed its name, maintaining institution, location and objectives several times between 1901 and 1939. Its operation was finally put paid to by World War II, when its entire collection was destroyed and its replacement and the restoration of the museum building were never realised. The former, 5-storey seat, now […]
Where are the ’folks’? The lack of democratic and emancipatory public education in Hungary? author: K. HORVÁTH ZSOLT The relations between 20th-century culture, intelligentsia and public education have been the theme of many exhibitions. Recent examples, without aspiring to completeness, include the ‘overture’ titled Enlargements – 1963. Solvere et Ligare and Its Era, organised under József Mélyi’s outstanding curatorship, and Gaudiopolis 2017, organised as part of the OFF-Biennale. The latter, organised in the […]
Ambitious plans to protect the Secessionist heritage of Nagyvárad The Darvas-La Roche House author: BIRÓ ÁRPÁD LEVENTE–KESZEG ANNA The Secessionist Darvas-La Roche House in Nagyvárad, designed by the Vágó brothers, was put to museum use in spring 2016. The building had initially been lived in by private residents and the wing owned by the municipality operated as the seat of the Nagyvárad Bihar FC football club from 2001. Conferring museum status prepared the […]
Art Collecting: a One-generation Game? A collector, an accumulator and the Hungarian museum system author: Jankó Judit Internationally speaking, the history of art collecting has attained prominence as a theme and area of expertise for art historians and as such is diversely researched. In contrast, the publication of such writings in Hungary is mainly linked to the art dealing circuit and commercial galleries, and these volumes are not always received with praise […]
Can We Protect Our Past? The Future of Artwork Protection in the Near East after the Conflicts in 2010-2015 author: CSERI ANNA FLÓRA Having set itself the ultimate goal of vanquishing Western civilisation both physically and by dealing blows to Western identity, traditions and culture, the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) began to systematically destroy and sell off the cultural heritage of the Near East. Although black trade is not a new thing, it has escalated and entered a […]
The Lack of Inner Ethnology author: Kuti Klára As Lucius Burckhardt, Swiss sociologist and an expert in cultural studies says: liberated from the compulsion of identity-building, 20th-century museums must be ready to engage in a dialogue between ‘own’ and ‘alien’. In this respect, the Völkerkunde museum provides lessons for all others, demonstrating that a museum of today must be based on inner ethnology. […]
“Giving a Voice to Women” In conversation with the MúzeumCafé prize-winner Krisztina Kelbert author: Berényi Marianna Despite her young age, Krisztina Kelbert, the winner of this year’s MúzeumCafé prize, has demonstrated an extraordinarily productive career as a museologist: she is a successful author, the curator of highly popular exhibitions, and a recognised conference organiser and speaker. The starting point and basis of her research and other work are formed by the […]
The House of European History Eastman Building, Parc Léopold, Brussels author: György Péter With thanks to Joanna Urbanek and Andrea Mork In the case of exhibitions and museums alike, choosing the starting point for a study written about them is a matter of scale and focus. The micro-history of the House of European History and its environment – the space it occupies – form an integral part […]
The background of loaning artworks The activity of the Hungarian Registrars Association author: D’ALBINI ZSUZSANNA–VIRÁG JUDIT KATA If we were to ask the average museum visitor who they thought works in a museum, they would probably come up with restorers, museologists, exhibition guides and perhaps museum educators. If, just out of curiosity, we were to catch them standing before the Rembrandt self-portrait – loaned from the collection of the Galleria degli Uffizi […]
New changes in the system of Hungarian heritage protection author: KÁLNOKI-GYÖNGYÖSSY MÁRTON At the end of October, the Hungarian government initiated the overhaul of sectoral legislation on Hungary’s archaeological heritage protection (Act LXIV of 2001). Organisational and personnel changes introduced last year and this year in heritage protection – an area supervised by the Prime Minister’s Office since 1914 – have resulted in a new approach. Carrying […]