Cseri Miklós: Néprajz és muzeológia, Tanulmányok a népi építészet és a múzeumi etnográfia köréből (Studia Folkloristica et Ethnographica 51. Debrecen ,Szentendre, Debreceni Egyetem Néprajzi Tanszék, 2009)

TELEPÜLÉS - ÉPÍTÉSZET - LAKÁSKULTÚRA - ETHNOGRAPHY AND MUSEOLOGY STUDIES IN FOLK ARCHITECTURE AND MUSEOLOGICAL ETHNOGRAPHY

THE THIRTY YEARS OLD HUNGARIAN OPEN AIR MUSEUM IN SZENTENDRE ACHIEVEMENTS AND TASKS The Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre is the second largest ethnographic museum institution in Hungary. It was founded on 1

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t Februar)' 1967. When the planned nine regional units (Upper-Tisza Region, a Highland Market Town, Northern Hungary, The Central Tisza Region, The Great Hungarian Plain, Southern Transdanubia, The BalatonUplands, Western Transdanubia, and the Kisalföld in North-Western Hungary) are ready, they will preserve the Hungarian architectural traditions of the 18'

1'—20

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h centuries as our historical heritage. The Hungarian Open Air Museum was called into existence rather belatedly in comparison with Scandinavian and Western European open air museums. One of the consequences of this was, however, that the earlier pitfalls in respect of historicity, fidelity in material and structure, as well as the techniques of relocation could be avoided and its own, up-to-date, scientific concept could be developed. In the past decades the methods of constructing open air museums, the practice of relocating the selected buildings have developed in Hungary too. Result of this complicated and complex procedure, is the building, respectively the whole „village" or region as they appear to the visitor, demonstrating the specific characteristics of a past civilization. So far, we have completed the Upper Tisza Region (1974), Kisalföld (1987), the Western Transdanubia regions (1993) and the construction of the group of buildings of the market town in the Great Hungarian Plain is fast progressing. Besides the museum building, demands have arisen regarding the renewal of the museum. The enlargement of its scientific idea is also necessary in geographical sense (folk architecture of the Hungarians in tire Carpathian-basin) thematically (involving other classes of society) and also in the age (die architectural demonstration of the middle and end of the 20'

1' century). The renewal of the available infrastructure became also necessary. The museum will be enlarged by a new up-to-date service building between 1998-2001. The museumdevelopment has also been speeded up: the Balaton-Upland Region with its 27 buildings will be ready by the time of the central festival in 2000. The modernization of the infrastructure of public service, transport, meals and programmes was also necesarry. In consequence of the above, by the end of the century, the Hungarian Open Air Museum is moving on in speeded time and with powerful dynamism in order to become an European level museum managing not only the matters of protecting the national cultural heritage but important educational and cultural tasks too. NEW EXPERIMENTS - NEW EXHIBITING EFFORTS OF OPEN-AIR MUSEUMS The Europen Open-Air Museums' Association held its 20th congress in Szentendre, in August 2001. The topic of the conference was: „New millennium, new challenges for the open air museums." It was declared at the conference that the skansens originally established for the demonstration of folk-life in more complex form, resp. for the protection of dying architectural relics indeed got to a choice of alternatives. While it was novelty at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of 20th century, one couldn't meet the new social challenges not always easily. The lecture presents the efforts (e.g. making alive, using of multimedy and digital tools, revival of traditional exhibitions, etc.) developed by the most important open air museums of Europe. It is clear that we have to enlarge the methods of demonstrations and exhibitions both in topic and space and also in 402