Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 12. (Budapest, 1992)

Márta Péter

without giving up everyday routine activities. After moving back to Budapest, she first mastered the elements of cultural diplomacy as an associate of the Hungarian Artists' Association between 1965 and 1968. Then she turned towards contemporary Hungarian applied arts and design as an expert of the Applied Arts Council. Both skills proved to be essential in her later museological activities. She returned to the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts in 1972; first she was an associate, later the head of the modem collection. Between 1979 and 1985 she was appointed to direct the Department of Mediodology and Modem Arts. All three positions meant a continuous and direct connection widi the flourishing modem Hungarian applied arts. This time was the period when borders between genres were blurred; dividing lines between the different fields were wiped away in die contemporary arts, both in Hungary and abroad. Márta Péter was one of die most active experts of this process. She also revived an almost forgotten tradition: owing to efforts by Márta Péter and her colleagues, consequent exhibitions of modem fine and applied arts were opened in the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts during the 1970s, as part of its activity in the field of art history. The frequent exhibitions and museum methodology, as new challenges, required special knowledge in new fields, namely in museum pedagogy, public relations and publishing. When taking over a new mission, Márta Péter not only obtained the necessary skills, but also perfected and renewed die tasks she had to cope with. For example, she was the first person in Hungary to implement in die Budapest Museum of Applied Arts, the parallel application of educational and professional aspects in exhibition organizing, which was so evident in international practice and is now so evident in Hungarian practice of exhibition organizing. At the same time, in spite of her interest in modem art, the new range of tasks reinforced her connections with die historical periods. In fact, diese connections have never been torn: the graduates of the art history faculty of die sixties at die Budapest University were dedicated to art from the start, even if tiiey spent a whole lifetime among modem works of art. The comprehensive Luther Exhibition, organized by Márta Péter and opened in the Museum of Fine Arts in 1983, and especially the permanent exhibition entitled Arts and Crafts, which opened in the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts, where she was one of the organizers, were the culmination of her incessant dedication to old art. By the middle of die 1980s Márta Péter had ascended almost all the grades of responsibility, tried the most diverse field of activities offered by the complex organizational system of an applied arts museum. It seemed obvious that in 1986 she would accept the position of Assistant Director. It looks even more inevitable if we know that with the opening of her permanent exhibition (Arts and Crafts), which was able to educate without any teaching, a decade of teamwork, so far unheard of in die Budapest Museum of Applied Arts, began. Teamwork in a museum means the cooperation of at least 10-15-20 individuals, who have to be strong personalities to create, yet the must have enough respect for others to achieve a fruitful co-operation. Success, however, comes only if there is a leader provided widi the strongest will to create and the conformity to accept the approaches of others. For diis reason, the most important achievement in Márta Peter's oeuvre was die large-scale exhibition series, entitled