Vass Erika: Erdély virágai. Egy kutatás pillanatképei 2006-2011. Kiállítási katalógusok 3. (Szentendre, 2011)

DEAR VISITORS, there is a land without within I wear it as I wear my skin tormented but still beauty-graced landscapes where the bitter taste that fouls my mouth is purified there is a land deep deep inside Sándor Kányádi Let the Hungarian Open Air Museum present you with a bouquet of flowers of Transylvania - or rather the best moments of a research carried out since 2006. We would like to share our experiences gained during the fieldwork with our visitors, while offering a brief insight into the vivid life of rural Transylvania through the images captured on our cameras. Since the beginning of the 21st century Transylvania has seen a rapid economic growth, as a result of which many values accumulated in the past centuries are likely to disappear within a couple of years. Nevertheless, we still have the chance to collect objects from areas which have preserved many objects and spiritual gems; hence the Museum will be able to present these treasures to visitors in the following decades. In 1998 the Museum was given the license to extend the scope of its collection to the whole Hungarian language area. In 1999 we summarized all of our best knowledge about Transylvania in a separate volume, focusing primarily on folk architecture and home interiors. In relation to this, we have been carrying out systematic fieldwork since 2006, which has also been backed up by the research of the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA) titled The ethnographic character of Transylvania in the 19th-20th centuries. Basic Research for the Transylvania Region of the Hungarian Open Air Museum (No. K 72428). Our aim is to preserve, collect and collectivize the heritage of Hungarian culture outside the borders of present-day Hungary. With this exhibition and the inevitable research connected to it ethnography pays its old dues, since no collective works have been published yet on the folk architecture or material culture of the Hungarians in Transylvania - until now we have only been familiar with smatterings of this abundant treasury. Since the end of the 19th century there have been many attempts to present the folk architecture of Transylvania in the framework of an open air exhibition, but these were either only temporary displays or could not be realised at all in the storms of history. Now a real team work has been carried out thanks to the close cooperation of Hungarian and Transylvanian researchers, which will result in the set of buildings to be built in Szentendre, presenting the material and spiritual heritage of Transylvania. Our primary mission is to present the historical Transylvania to the visitors. Out of the historical area called Partium only Sälaj has been included in our research, whose architectural style forms a transition between Transylvania and the Great Hungarian Plain. Year after year we conduct in-depth research at more and more locations with the inclusion of students of architecture and ethnography and Transylvanian researchers of ethnography. The foundation of the research was laid by the settlement plan drawn up by Miklós Búzás and Erika Vass in 2006. In 2007 we visited Mere§ti, Jeledinti and Räcä§tia in judetul Hunedoara, in 2008 we surveyed five Unitarian churches and extended the scope of collection to §apte Sate, in 2009 we surveyed country mansions in Trei Scaune in 2010 we focused on Cämpia Transilvaniei and in 2011 on Ghime§. Besides the settlement plan, an ethnobotanical plan is also drawn up for each of the plots, based on the research of the particular area. The surveys, interviews and photographs all enlarge the database of the Hungarian Open Air Museum and will enable the detailed construction of the buildings and the authentic presentation of the lifestyles peculiar to the given area. Since 2007 the Museum College of the National Cultural Fund has supported our work on several occasions; this exhibition could also be brought together thanks to their help. From 2012 spring the exhibition will get on the road and, after Szentendre, it will be presented in Szekler Land, Sfäntu Gheorghe and Miercurea Ciuc, as well. 5