Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 16. (Budapest, 1997)

Kiállítások, események 1995-96

series was "Southeast Asian Buddhist Art". This opened in the Hopp Museum on November 20, 1996. In their work, Györgyi Fajcsák and Zsuzsanna Renner, the organizers of the exhibition, drew on experiences gained during their two-month study trip to the region (January - February 1996), undertaken on scholarships given by the Getty Foundation. As many as 240 art objects representing the art of five countries of Southeast Asia (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) were selected from the stock held by Budapest's Etnographical Museum, as well as from private collections and from the collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum. Items from Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia demonstrated local variations despite the strict instructions concerning forms of depiction in Theravada Buddhism, the various styles having been brought about as a result of complex interactions. On the other hand, the art objects from Vietnam represented the profoundly different world of Mahayana Buddhism. The majority of the exhibits were sculptures (bronze sculptures and painted or lacquered woodcarvings), but rare large-sized Thai paintings, ritual objects and artistic ceramics were also on display. The principle for the arrangement of old works of art was demonstration of the living cult: several mock-ups of altars, photographs taken on location by Györgyi Fajcsák and Zsuzsanna Renner, and video films shown in the passage set the atmosphere to the exhibition. The exhibition was opened by Ildikó Puskás, Professor of Indology and head of the Department of Ancient Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. The catalogue, consisting in part of colour illustrations, contained the first discussion of the subject in Hungarian, and the bilingual (Hungarian and English) analyses of art objects contained a number of first accounts and definitions which are rare even in the foreign specialist literature. Attached to this exhibition was the miniexhibition entitled "Opium Weights and Betel Sets from Southeast Asia" (Hopp Museum, November 20, 1996 - May 15, 1997), which presented a special field of metalwork and which was arranged by Tatjána Kardos. The series "Rarities and Curiosities from the Collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Art" included other exhibitions also: in the Ráth Museum Ildikó Nagy presented "Korean Wedding Costumes" (February 22, 1995 - June 25, 1995), and in the same location Eva Cseh and Györgyi Fajcsák under the title "The Exorcist Chung K'uei (Shoki) in China (and Japan)" assembled various depictions of this mythical figure, utilizing paintings, porcelain, woodblockprints and miniature carvings (July 2, 1995 - February 28, 1996). From among the visiting exhibitions the studio exhibition "Japanese Calligraphy", which displayed works by the Japanese calligraphic artist couple Goyo and Hogyoku Mizutani, could be seen in the Hopp Museum (August 25, 1995 - October 2, 1995). This demonstrated a particular branch of a living tradition, so-called kana calligraphy. The artists gave a lecture on this subject which was received with great interest. From their works of art, which are highly regarded in Japan, the artists presented sixteen items to the Museum. This exhibition was accompanied by a mini-exhibition of old Japanese inkstones, brushes, seals, writing boxes, etc. - i. e. "The Tools of Japanese Calligraphy" (Hopp Museum, August 25, 1995 - October 2, 1995, arranged by Eva Cseh). Two visiting exhibitions were held in the building of the Museum of Applied Arts. The first was the highly successful exhibition "The Dolls of Japan. A Visiting Exhibition of the Japan Foundation" (March 17, 1995 April 17, 1995), hosted by Éva Cseh. It was opened by Éva Moskovszky, a world-famous collector of dolls. The second was the exhibition "The Art of Temple Carpenters. Traditional Japanese Architecture" (April 23, - May 20, 1995), hosted by Éva Cseh and Mária Ferenczy. The showing of the exhibits, which came from the collection of the Department of Architectural History at Wa-