Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 19. (Budapest, 2000)
Diary of Exhibitions
master's 70th birthday. The show, which ran from November 9, 1999 until January 9, 2000, was opened by Dr. Loránd Bereczky, director-general of the Hungarian National Gallery, and displayed diploma and recent creations by those who graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts' Department of Goldsmith's Work in the period 1969-87. As well as conferences complementing individual exhibitions plus evening concerts, the Museum also organized a number of events connected with high days and holidays. For the fourth year in succession a three-day flower exhibition, held to mark St. Valentine's Day, was a big hit with the public. This event was organized jointly by the Hungarian Flower Arrangers' Association and Elvira Király. In December a fair linked with children's handicraft activities - this event is by tradition held on the first weekend of the month - helped families in their preparations for Christmas. The following weekend was for applied artists: a spectacular fair entitled HAND(I)CRAFT along with presentations and a concert all awaited visitors. On seven occasions in the course of the year Family Weekends, at which interesting articles could be made under the guidance of applied artists, afforded schoolchildren and their parents opportunities for creative relaxation. Judit Pataki The Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts and the György Rath Museum In 1999 the Hopp Museum celebrated the 80 th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this occasion the exhibition Ferenc Hopp, Traveller and Photographer was organized jointly with the Hungarian Museum of Photography; it was open to the public from May 20 until September 5. Ferenc Hopp, the wealthy optician who founded the Museum, was a widely-travelled man who not only sold photographic equipment, but also took many photographs of his own during the course of his journeys. The greater part of Hopp's photographic archive was destroyed during the Second World War. From what survived, however, it proved possible to select approximately 100 photographs (either taken by Hopp in person or collected by him) recalling the Hungary of the time as well as moments during his round-the-world tours between 1883 and 1914. These photographs were supplemented by letters and other documents, as well as by artefacts indicating the course taken by his art collection. The exhibition was organized by Mária Ferenczy and opened by the historian Áron Petneki. To coincide with it, the Hungarian Photography Museum published the monograph Mandarin on a Mule. Ferenc Hopp and Hungarian Photography (in Hungarian, with a summary in English). This volume was produced jointly by Mária Ferenczy and Károly Kineses, the director of the Museum of Photography. On September 9 during this jubilee year, a wreath was laid on Ferenc Hopp's grave in Budapest's Kerepes Cemetery, on the 80th anniversary of his death. The visiting exhibition The Art of the Chinese Zodiac. Contemporary Applied Arts from Taiwan was on display at the Hopp Museum from March 29 until April 20. This exhibition was organized by Györgyi Fajcsák and Tatjána Kardos. The colour catalogue in English and Chinese was supplied with a Hungarian-language insert. For the Hopp Museum the big event of the year was the opening, on November 11, of a new exhibition in the upstairs rooms of the György Rath Museum: Peach Blossom and Mohammedan Blue. The Art of Chinese Ceramics - from the Collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest. With the help of 430 pieces selected from the approximately 1300 artefacts in the Chinese ceramics collection,
