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József Kriston Vízi, cultural mediator at the Katona József Museum, Kecskemét
MúzeumCafé 49.
In 2012 JózsefKristonVízi won the Podmaniczky Prize. He received the award for doing a great deal for the protection of Hungary’s built and natural environment, and its cultural heritage. It was no surprise, since he has striven intensely to preserve and spread knowledge about the culture of toys found in the Carpathian Basin. JózsefKristonVízi has worked in numerous places in Hungary where he has been involved with major exhibitions, professional and civil organisations and associations, conferences and the publication of ground-breaking works. Born in Budapest in 1953, he studied in Debrecen. He has worked in Tiszaújváros, Eger, Kecskemét, Budapest and Dombóvár. He is currently cultural mediator at the KatonaJózsef Museum. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the Central European Club Pannonia Association, and is a founding member of the Pulszky Association, the Kecskemét-Aomori Community Organisation and the Kecskemét Rotary Club. He has been awarded the Áron Kiss Medal, the Ministerial Prize for Public Education, the Pro Ludo Prize and the Podmaniczky Prize. His major works are In a Common Language in Ung and Berk, Homo LudensHungaricus, Scarecrow on a Bicycle, and Stone, Paper, Scissors. He worked for ten years at the Toy Museum in Kecskemét. At the time the cultural face of the town developed dramatically, for example with the appearance of the Museum of Naive Art, the Animated Film Studio and the Ceramics Studio. Local exhibitions regularly attracted people even from Budapest. He didn’t quite find his place in the Museum of Ethnography in the capital. Politics permeated everyday matters. It’s difficult in the provinces, too, but in some ways the situation is much better than in Budapest.