Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2006 (18. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)
2006-12-08 / 48. szám
Salt and Pepper Shakers, Town and Country, Red Wing Pottery, 194 - 1946 Collection, Jim Drobka Photo: Anthony Scoggins Mingei International — Balboa Park To Present Eva Zeisel Exhibition DESIGNER JUST TURNED 100 YEARS OLD IN NOVEMBER On December 10, EVA ZEISEL - Extraordinary Designer at 100 will open to the public. Organized by Mingei International as” the first major West Coast presentation of Eva Zeisel’s work, the exhibition draws on two large private California collections, those of Pat Moore and Dr. Gene L. Grobman in the San Francisco Bay Area and Jim Drobka in Los Angeles. The exhibition will run through June 10, 2007. The Guest Curator is Joyce Corbett (jcorbett39@yahoo.com ). Here is lyrical, sinuous, sometimes whimsical work that is the unfragmented creative expression of one human being - head, heart and hands, made available to a large public by machine production. In this, Eva Zeisel is a most important exponent of mingei principles for the máchine age. Eva Amalia Striker was bom in Budapest in 1906. From an intellectual family, she studied painting at Hungary’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. After a visit to the Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels, where she was introduced to the functional arts as espoused by modemist architect Le Corbusier, she returned to Hungary and apprenticed as a potter. Early in her new career, one of her clay pieces received honorable mention at the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial. A desire to travel led her to accept a job in Schramberg, Germany, followed by stays in Berlin and Hamburg. From there, she went to Russia in 1932, where she worked to create a modem ceramic industry. She spent time at the Lomonsov factory in Leningrad before being named Artistic Director for the Porcelain and Glass Industries of Russia. Arrested in 1936 for allegedly plotting against Stalin, she spent 16 months in prison, much of the time in solitary confinement. Released without explanation in 1938, she went to Austria , then to England with Hans Zeisel whom she married. From England they went to New York, where she has lived ever since. Honored by the Hungarian government in 2004 with the Medal of the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, she has also been designated an honorary Royal Designer by the Royal Designers for Industry, the highest honor a non-British designer can achieve in the United Kingdom. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the Rhode Island School of Design and a National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Design Museum, Cooper-Hewitt, New York. Recent works include designs for the Zsolnay Factory in Pecs and Kispester-Granit in Budapest. Eva Zeisel has had a 75-year career and, by her own accounting, has designed more than 100,000 objects centered on the home and table - dinnerware, vases, candlesticks, dishes, tea and coffee pots, pitchers, and salt and pepper shakers. She was the first designer in this country to produce an all-white dinner service, an event documented by a special exhibition at the Museum of Modem Art in New York City in 1946. She was also the first to teach ceramics as industrial design for mass production rather than as handcraft. She has said significantly, “Everything I do is a direct creation of my hands, whether it is made in wood, plaster or clay.” Exhibition sponsors include Nambé American Hungarian Federation Concerned With New Policy toward Hungarian Minorities The American Hungarian Federation (the “Federation”) is the largest Hungarian-American umbrella organization in the United States. Founded in 1906, it is also one of the oldest ethnic organizations in America. Over the years, the Federation has supported democracy, human rights and the mle of law in Central and Eastern Europe. AHF has a long and proud tradition of monitoring and speaking up about the situation of the Hungarian historical communities living as minorities i states neighboring Hungary. It is the Federation’s conviction that, as Prime Minster Antall stated, Hungary has a special responsibility toward the Hungarian minorities, a responsibility that includes supporting their legitimate aspirations. This essential support must be based on close consultation with the leaders of the affected minorities. The obligation to maintain the cultural and ethnic identity of Hungarians became one of three pillars of Hungarian foreign policy following the neglect in this area by the Kadar regime. The Antall government’s welcome reversal of this inexcusable neglect was fully consistent with the principles of democracy and should be continued, as the situation of the minorities is not resolved. The Federation’s views on this subject were set forth in its June 16, 2006 open letter to Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. Point three of that letter states: “(3) Your government will have to launch a creative and persistent diplomatic initiative to protect the historic Hungarian communities living as national, linguistic and religious minorities in countries neighboring Hungary. As much as some would prefer, Hungary’s governing political elite can neither escape the nation’s history nor the consequences of that history. Clearly, the minorities require both negative rights, i.e., protection from discrimination and intolerance, as well as positive rights, i.e., cultural, territorial and/or personal autonomy. Defusing tensions by promot-The English Page of the Hírlap can serve as a bridge between the non-Hungarian-speaking members of the family and the community. Use it to bring people together! Subscribe to the Hírlap! Advertise your business in the Hírlap! If you have any questions or suggestions, please call (323) 463-6376 ing enlightened policies relating to minorities advances genuine democracy and regional stability, and these all serve the interests of Hungary, the region, the EU, the US and NATO, not to mention the interests of the affected minorities. Hungary can and should play a pivotal role in advancing these interests. Indeed, Hungary should without hesitation openly and effectively support the legitimate aspirations of the Hungarian minorities for autonomy - a precondition for their survival - in multilateral fora as well as in its bi-lateral relations with its neighboring countries.” The Federation is dismayed and concerned that these important principles are being abandoned. For example, the new concept' relating to the government’s policy toward minorities appears to emphasize economic growth while ignoring the minorities’ aspirations for autonomy and internationally recognized practices relating to minority rights. Undoubtedly economic welfare is a desirable goal, but it is not a substitute for polices and practices that permit minorities to preserve their unique characteristics and enjoy the benefits of rights that minorities in Western Europe enjoy. Equally disturbing is the government’s forsaking the Hungarian Standing Committee (MAERT) and its elimination of the independent administrative body - the Office for Hungarians Beyond the Borders - which addressed wide-ranging issues relating to Hungarian minorities. There are also reports that the government plans to eliminate or curtail the László Teleki Institute and place its heretofore independent Foreign Affairs Institute directly under government control. These and similar steps raise serious questions as to the government’s commitment to support a significant and integral part of the Hungarian nation. As a country occupied by the Soviet Union, Hungary was prohibited from addressing the problems of the minorities. Now that Hungary has regained its sovereignty and is integrated into Western institutions, there is no justification for it to neglect the challenges confronting the minorities. Therefore, any decision, concept or policy that diminishes Hungary’s special obligation toward the Hungarian minorities and their democratically expressed aspirations should be reversed. If not, genuine democracy will be the victim, as will the minorities themselves. Clearly, this is not the legacy the government wishes to leave. November 30, 2006 DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. #102 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 SPECIÁLIS ÁR LAX-BUD-LAX $566.-tól +TX. az ár szeptember 3-tól érvényes Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168 Coffee Server and Teapot, Mondrian, Majolika Fabrik, Shramberg, Germany, 1928 - 1930 Collection, Pat Moore and Dr. Gene Grobman Photo: Anthony Scoggins Located at 1439 El Prado, Mingei International Museum is open Tüesday through -Sunday, 10- 4, and closed on Mondays and national holidays. Admission is $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children 6-17 and students with ID. For information, call 619-239-0003. Mingei International Museum is funded in part by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and The County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program. December 8, 2006
