Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)
The Museum of Applied Arts in 2011-12
storage space and a furniture restoration workshop at the Nagytétény Mansion site. Exhibitions, displays and events Exhibitions Despite the adverse financial conditions in 2011-2012 the Museum of Applied Arts continued to put on a programme of rich and varied exhibitions for the visiting public. These were made up of a combination of thematic exhibitions dedicated to individual historical periods, and displays focusing on contemporary applied arts and design. Artisans at the Crossroads - Persian Arts of the Qajar Period (1796-1925) 28th January - 18th September 2011 The exhibition was the first in the world to focus on art in the age of the Qajar dynasty, the creators of modern Iran. The exhibition was also the first show in Hungary devoted to Persian art. In the years leading up to the event all the Persian-related material in the Middle Eastern section of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts was catalogued along with the other Qajar period material currently in Hungary’s public collections. The exhibition was also preceded by a major restoration programme. What makes the art of the Qajar period particularly interesting is the conflict between those handicraft traditions that had stretched back a thousand years or more and new — primarily European - inventions (like photography for example) and industrial mass production. The exhibition, in keeping with the artefacts in Hungary’s public collections, was classified according to individual crafts (gunsmithery, ceramics, carpet-making, textiles, book art, lacquer- ware, metalwork and photography). A significant proportion of these objects were being put on public display for the first time. In an effort to put the exhibited material into a wider historical context, attention was paid to the origins of Hungarian interest in Iranian Studies, and the history of Shia Islam. The curators of the exhibition put on by the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts and the Museum of Applied Arts were Béla Kelényi and Iván Szántó (ELTE Department of Iranian Studies). The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue in both English and Hungarian. Fragile Harmony - Neoclassical Porcelain from the Collection of the Marton Museum Zagreb 16th June - 11th September 2011 The Budapest exhibition displayed a selection of porcelain from the collection of the outstanding Croatian collector Veljko Marton. The exhibition featured about 130 Neoclassical and Empire style objects dating from the golden age of Viennese imperial porcelain manufacture, made during the period of Conrad von Sorgenthal’s management of the factory (1784-1805). Apart from Neoclassical Viennese decorative objects and bisque figurines there were also pieces of French and Russian porcelain on display betraying Viennese Neoclassical influence. The exhibition included some silver and bronze artefacts of the same time, and Bohemian and Russian glass, which also came from the Marton Museum. The exhibition was accompanied by a Hungarian catalogue edited by Gabriella Balia, the curator of the exhibition. 105
