Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)
The Museum of Applied Arts in 2011-12
Art and Design for All - lecture series August - September 2012 The museum organized a series of four lectures relating to the Art and Design for All exhibition. They concerned the history of the applied arts museum and world exhibitions, and the connections that exist between the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts. The lecturers at the series which took place in the library were Zsombor Jékely, Miklós Székely, Ágnes Prékopa and László Kunos. Movement - Symposium and finissage of the Movement exhibition 7th September 2012 The Institute of Art History - Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the History of Education Department at ELTE’s Faculty of Education and Psychology held a symposium in connection with the Movement exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts under the title of Hungarian movement art as reflected in contemporary society and art. The Hungarian Movement Choir and the Hungarian Art of Movement Company performed an authentic reconstruction of Valéria Dienes and Lajos Bár- dos’s Hajnalvárás (Rite of Dawn, 1925). Object and Memento at one and the same time The programme that took place during the course of the 2011-2012 school year was devised especially to help those educational institutions working with the socially underprivileged. The programme, which tackled a number of individual themes tailored for different groups, came in a number of variations. The themes covered the applied arts in the 16th—18th centuries, and the 19th-20th centuries, with the aid of artefacts, handicrafts and drama. The teaching was made all the more memorable by the addition features (interiors, costumes, reconstructions) specially made for the occasion. Collections As in previous years the most important acquisitions of the period came in the form of gifts and bequests. The most notable gift was Magda Bácsi’s collection of Chinese porcelain and Hungarian ceramics numbering several hundred pieces. The transfer of the modern tapestry collection from the Hungarian National Gallery included a number of outstanding pieces, particularly the tapestries made after the designs of József Rippl-Rónai and János Vaszary. Acquisitions of contemporary tapestries included the purchase and reception as gifts of works by József Dómján, Ildikó Dobrányi and Katalin Vásárhelyi. Works made in the framework of the Web of Europe project (see above) also entered the collection. As part of the National Cultural Fund Pulszky rescue programme the museum was able to purchase late Biedermeier furniture, oriental carpets and an early István Ferenczy work, a wrought iron bracket. At the BÁV Zrt. auction held on 15th November the Museum of Applied Arts was able to buy a fine Art Nouveau drinking set, the work of Alexandre Bigot. As for contemporary purchases, the museum’s main aim was to buy works for 117
