Vaderna Gábor (szerk.): Önarckép álarcokban. Kiállításkatalógus (Budapest, 2018)
Summary
In 2017 Hungarian cultural life celebrated the 200th anniversary of Arany’s birth in a number of ways, with events and works of art. Of the year’s exhibitions, in scale the largest is held in the Petőfi Literary Museum between May 2017 and March 2018 - Self-Portraits in Self- Made Masks, curated by Zsuzsa Kalla, Emese Kaszap-Asztalos and Anna Sidó, and intended to present an overview. The exhibition introduces visitors to the world of the second half of the 19th century and at the same time it presents the poet's oeuvre. The exhibition space is divided into two. On one side János Arany’s career and the change of its socio-cultural environment in which the poet lived can be followed chronologically; on the other side in four rooms, poetic figures created by the author are presented in pairs. On the two sides of the exhibition the poet and his characters come to life: the sensitive and self-deprecating poet who sometimes leaves his disciplined public roles of notary, town clerk and teacher behind on one side, and on the other the fairy tale hero, the epic hero, the mad woman, a "chinovnik”, an old busker and a fool. The interior space divided into two also expresses the “fragmentation”, the inside vibrations so characteristic of Arany. The rooms presenting the literary characters are furnished sparingly. The fact that they are situated at another level is demonstrated by having to enter these rooms by a step. Each room presents a theme concerning a part of the historical period, literature and the arts of the era. Visitors can encounter rarely seen objects of art and “treasures” usually kept in storage. The four pairs of characters complement one another, while they are arranged in opposites and made to appear as easily receptible concepts, which can be experienced or imagined by anyone, such as a hero and anti-hero, female and male psychology, everyday life and heroism, mass and loneliness. The environment, which has a strictly regulated rhythm and offers absorption, invites visitors to slow down, similarly to the experience of reading a piece of literature. The designer turned the traditional cabinets used in exhibitions by 90 degrees in the space which presents the four most important scenes in the poet’s life, hence the “floor” and the "display cases” are on the wall. This approach indicates to visitors that they see a “memorial exhibition". They are leaving a small provincial town and arriving in a large city, which at the time was turning into a metropolis. János Arany’s personal objects are displayed in an enhancing environment and as a result in its tangible nature the advance of the poet’s career in modernizing Hungary has become perceptible. A narrow space introduces the exhibition, which presents the atmosphere, recalls knowledge and stereotypes, as well as demonstrates the methodology of the exhibition. The spacious final room provides an opportunity to summarize. It has a diverse and playful rest section with an invitation to relax. Here visitors can spend time by the wall reviving Arany’s cult and his reception. They can ask “virtual” experts, listen to specially selected music and finally they can “leave a trace” representing their own experiences. The exhibition calls attention to the paradox of how intertwined something that is sublime and petty, extraordinary and ordinary, honest and secretive is presented in Arany’s works. Ordinary and feeble characters face great heroes as the genres used by the poet indicate end points: he wrote monumental epics, occasional poems, humorous pieces and ironic improvisations. Looking behind the masks of the justly esteemed classic, moreover 441
