It’s good if an exhibition attracts many visitors Portrait of art historian Géza Jászai MúzeumCafé 21. author: Erzsébet Marton Géza Jászai left Hungary in November 1956 and became an art historian in what was then West Germany. Over the years he has worked for several museums, organised large exhibitions and been a university lecturer. The director of Münster’s Dom Museum until 2000, today he lives in Berlin where he continues to do research. Last […]
“If God and the minister of national economy want it so” Marcell Jankovics, head of the Hungarian National Cultural Fund MúzeumCafé 21. author: Marianna Berényi NKA – three letters which can be seen on most exhibition invitations and catalogues, as well as on the published material of theatres, concerts and journals. They stand for National Cultural Fund, an institution which has helped facilitate most cultural events in Hungary since 1993. It is an independent fund established to keep a distance […]
Leaving stones to stand Judit Tamási, President of the National Office of Cultural Heritage MúzeumCafé 21. author: Roland Borsos Judit Tamási outlines some guiding principles, saying that the National Office cannot instruct its regional bodies in first round authority issues about the protection of listed buildings, archaeological items and art objects, yet as the president of an office which provides professional supervision and makes decisions in the second round regarding the regions it is […]
“For Hungarian artists, the Kunsthalle and myself” Portrait of art historian and curator, Krisztina Jerger MúzeumCafé 21. author: Gellért Rajcsányi Her double identity (with a Polish mother and a Hungarian father) and a life alternating between two countries has caused much happiness and sometimes difficulty to Krisztina Jerger. After university in Warsaw she gained a name for herself, first in Hungary and later internationally, as an art historian and curator of the Kunsthalle in Budapest, […]
“The nation lives in its language” The Museum of Hungarian Language in Széphalom MúzeumCafé 21. author: Ádám Sztankay The Museum of Hungarian Language opened two years ago in Széphalom, the location of Ferenc Kazinczy’s residence, his intellectual workshop, where he formulated his ideas about language reform. The museum is not based on the important periods of linguistic history, the subject of the exhibition is truly living and has a serious intent. The idea […]
A museum which educates its own public The Children’s Museum in Győr – a unique initiative MúzeumCafé 21. author: Ágnes Pintérné Gergics museum education officer What does the name Children’s Museum imply? The Children’s Museum in Győr is a temporary exhibition space for the display of works of fine and applied arts thematically selected and put together with children in mind. These are complemented by creative games which have devised by artists and museum educators. In addition there are art […]
A passion for art The Dénes Deák Collection in Székesfehérvár MúzeumCafé 21. author: Péter Hamvay The Deák Collection in Székesfehérvár is unique – indeed its founder was himself unique. Escaping the greyness of 1960s and 1970s socialism, Dénes Deák sought refuge in an earlier middle-class environment. As a distant descendent of the Hatvany-Deutsch family he inherited a love of fine arts. He began with books and reproductions, then using his […]
Patrons, sponsors, grants and the state Current and long-term possibilities in relation to museum finance MúzeumCafé 21. author: Nóra Vágvölgyi In Hungary there are more than nine hundred museum-related institutions registered with the relevant ministry and their number is growing year by year. These facts lend support to the hypothesis that there is a demand for the protection of culture and its presentation, and that the institutes founded for doing that can, by and large, […]
Archaeology and Tourism conference in the boot of Italy MúzeumCafé 21. author: Tímea Papp art historian The 13th Mediterranean Fair of Archaeological Tourism is Italy’s second largest tourism-related event after Milan’s International Tourism Fair, the difference being that it primarily concentrates on cultural matters in relation to archaeology. Tour operators, guides, archaeologists, specialist journalists, as well as school and university groups gathered not far from the ruins of Paestum in southern […]
Evidence of a conquering tribe in the central Tisza region MúzeumCafé 21. author: István Szathmáry Excavations carried out at Nagykörű in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county produced some of the most significant finds of 2010. Under the leadership of István Fodor and archaeologist László Madaras, exceptionally rich finds came to light with the discovery of graves from the time of the Hungarian conquest. The items in the very centre of the settlement were […]