Mészáros Veronika szerk.: Ékes tárgyak üzenete. Napjaink népművészete, népi iparművészete Veszprém megyében (Veszprém, 2000)

THE MESSAGE OF ORNAMENTED OBJECTS Folk - art and folk handicrafts in Veszprém county is a presentation of the course of live and career of craftsmen handing down and reviving the folk art traditions of the Bakony Hills and the Balaton Plateau. In our present volume both the members of the Veszprém Handicrafts Workshop, a folk art society, and also independent artists belonging to other societies in the county are presented. It is the old master craftsmen, weavers, smiths, joiners, cartwrights, potters, as well as home specialists, skilful farmers and housewives that are reborn in the folk craftsmen of today, improving their work to an artistic level. The folk art of the Bakony Hills and the Balaton Plateau is manifold. The richly ornamented carved tools of shepherds, the carved, engraved cornerbenches, chairs, chests with wooden inlaid-work, the well-known embroidered shawls, tablecloths, the varied embroidery on pillowcases, sacks, and bed-sheets, the hand-woven linen, the pottery from Sümeg, Veszprém, Várpalota, Tüskevár, Tapolca, Szentgál, Nemeslányfalu (Nagyvázsony) or Városlőd, the hand-carved mouthpieces of pipes, the baskets made of husks or wicker, the leather game-pouches are all typical and well-known pieces of our folk art. Folk craftsmen create these objects applying traditional procedures based on the regional characteristics. Sometimes these objects have new functions since they must have their place in the life of the man of our days. The museums can open their folk art collections for these folk craftsmen thus creating the possibility for the revival of the local and regional traditions and styles. It is certainly true that folk art does not only belong to the dusty store-rooms of museums. Our uniquely rich treasure of ornaments must not disappear from modern life either. Our catalogue is the result of the common work of the museum and folk craftsmen. Our museum considers it its aim and objective to play a role not only in the preservation of the treasure of traditional forms and patterns but also in handing down of those to later generations. 37