“We have to reshape our thinking about museums”
Andrea Csapláros, the new director of museums in Szombathely
MúzeumCafé 39.
The Savaria Town Museum with its county responsibilities separated from the former Vas County Museums’ Directorate as a consequence of the latest transformation of the national museum structure. At the time of taking over the museum institutes the new funding authority, the Szombathely municipal government, decided that from May 2013 its single museum, the Iseum Savariense Archaeological Workshop and Depository, would continue to function as a branch institute of the Savaria Museum. Also in 2013, the mandate of the former director of the Savaria Museum expired. In judging candidates for the post of director, the Szombathely local authority found the work of historian and archaeologist Andrea Csapláros to be the most suitable for refashioning the museum organisation. The ‘mother institute’ of the Savaria Town Museum with County Responsibilities is the Savaria Museum, Szombathely’s oldest museum. The nine associated museums are far from each other, in terms of both distance and theme. According to the tender for a new director, the creation of some unity is regarded as imperative. Andrea Csapláros began her further education studies in Szombathely and later attended Graz University. She returned to Szombathely as a professor, thus maintaining her connections with the town. She taught ancient history and the history of religion at the university, during which time she developed close cooperation with several departments of the museum. Ottó Sosztarits, head of excavations at the Iseum, invited her back to the town, where she became director of the Iseum. When it turned out that the local authority was supporting her, she resigned from her official positions in Austria, though she has continued to lecture at Graz University.