Cseri Miklós - Sári Zsolt (szerk.): Vidéki életmódváltozások a 20. században (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2009)
Cseri Miklós: A 20. század bemutatásának lehetőségei az európai szabadtéri múzeumokban
Miklós Cseri The Possibilities of Representing the Present in Open Air Museums Till the post-war period the whole methodology of open air museums had evolved totally; since then, the famous European skanzens have been changing step by step and the work gradually draws to a close. However, this perfection has transitionally resulted in the stagnation of development, concerning concept. Rural world is getting farther and farther away from the present; the individual emotional connection of visitors fades away, instead of experiences the effect of quickly disappearing wonder arises. As the result of the French Annales School serious research has begun concerning way of life and life-stories, and the skanzens have achieved good results in the representation of the everyday life of the 18-20'' 1 century-people. The ambition to be renewed can be traced in another phenomenon: the museum display and interpretation are also reformed. Those methods in which huge number of people - mostly volunteers - are engaged in traditional costumes, presenting traditional life-situations, motivating the visitors for a time-travel and interactive participation, recalling the past in a theatre-like way are more and more widespread. Till the turn of the 20-21" centuries, the most significant museums have created the concept of renewal, aiming at representing the 20 , h century way of life. The Hungarian Open Air Museum has also drafted its scientific concept concerning the possibilities of presenting the 20th century. The transition of the Hungarian village can be presented favourably with characteristic buildings, interiors appropriate for generalisations and life-situations from the 1920s till the Bereg flood of 2001. 1 believe and hope that the realisation of this concept contributes to the process which leads to the conceptual, scientific and interpretational renewal of the Hungarian Open Air Museum. 19
