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

Events 1991

EVENTS 1991 The exhibition program for 1991 can be regarded as modest, compared to previous years. This might be explained by the fact that the Museum was deeply involved in the scientific research and preparation for 1992 events - first of all for the comprehensive exhibition covering Hisloricism and Eclecticism. The most significant event in spring was the exhibition EUROPEAN ENAMEL ART, opened on May 3, organised by Agnes Prékopa and Éva Békési, using the most impressive pieces of the Museum's collection. The aim of the show was to create an enjoyable visual experience for the public, introducing the most significant works of art with technical and artistic merit. During the selection, the organizers focused on two, less well-known groups of objects: historicizing pieces and remarkable masterpieces of the Hungarian Art Nouveau. (A subgroup of the latter category is analized in details in the present issue.) A practical catalogue was compiled for the exhibition; the descriptions and the preface were written by Ágnes Prékopa. The autumn was the season for unique aesthetic delicacies. November 15 brought the traditional annual show reporting on the work of artists receiving the LAJOS KOZMA GRANT was opened, introducing die pieces of Edit Balogh, Olga Benedek, Márta Nagy, Livia Pápai and Tamás Radnóti to the public. The show combined artisan traditions with the achievements of contemporary line arts and was open to the public for a month. An old tradition was revived by THE PACKET exhibition, open from December 5 to Christmas. In the first few decades of the century, contemporary masters of applied arts had regular exhibitions in the museum. There has been attempts to continue this tradition - The Packet exhibition was on of the most successful among them. The organizer Aliz Torday asked almost 120 artists to send his/her own interpretation of the packet for the approaching Christmas for the public. In the end, there were about 40 exhibitors, including talented young artists and well-known masters of applied arts. The majority was involved in textile though tiiere were a few designs sent by architects and potters. The exhibition was accompanied by children's programs of a similar topic; students of the Applied Arts College were making special Christmas present wraps for the visitors. The holiday surprise of the Museum of Eastern Asiatic Art was the VAYANG exhibition. The show was organized from Jawaish figurai art and shadowplay figures, partly from the collection of die Budapest Museum of Applied Arts and partly from that of the Edinological Museum. Two young orientalists, Béla Kelényi and Zsuzsanna Renner selected a material of remarkable quality for die exhibition; the catalogue, written by the two museologists, introduces at a fairly high standard this unique art and a number of otiier connected subjects.