Begovácz Rózsa – Burján István – Vándor Andrea: Folk Art in Baranya County (Pécs, 2008)

The Department of Ethnography of Janus Pannonius Museum

Department of Ethnography besides the various Hungarianspeaking ethnographical groups the material imprints of Croatian, Serb, German and Gypsy culture in Baranya can also be found. This multiplicity of folk culture is reflected in the exhibition called „Folk Art in Baranya County" arranged in 1996 in Janus Pannonius Museum, which was rewarded with a millenium silver medal. The conception of the display goes back to the beginnings of ethnographical collections, when the interpretation of objects was based upon the assembly and presentation of peasant craft-products and artisan objects and focused primarily on aesthetical features. Pieces of furniture lead the visitor from the most archaic ways of carpentry and decoration to the products of the family manufacture. Shepherds' carvings refer in several respects to a form of life that came to an end - the making of these objects was connected to the lives of shepherds who had lots of free time and were closely tied to nature, and their use was embedded in the everyday life and the rites of peasants. It is the exhibited textiles, folkweaves, embroideries, costumes that most strikingly present the great number of nationalities in Baranya. Different techniques, customs of wearing refer to a given period and all carry the traits of an ethnographic group, a nationality or a village. The room containing folk pottery shows archaic techniques and ways of use as well as the characteristics, forms and motifs of different potteries. Folk ceramics of the Zsolnay Factory are also on display here, giving opportunity to the visitor to compare them with original folk pottery. While the conception of the permanent ethnographic exhibition is based on an early understanding of ethnography, the task of periodical displays - as revolving stages, complementing the permanent exhibition - is to receive guest exhibitions, to show recent results of ethnography and the answers given to the problems of society today. The collection established in the end of the 1800s is developed only by increasing, but the frame of interpretation determined by the way of selecting and displaying objects, as well as the reflections of society today are constantly changing, always confronting museologists responsible for the collections with new challenges. 6