Cseri Miklós: Néprajz és muzeológia, Tanulmányok a népi építészet és a múzeumi etnográfia köréből (Studia Folkloristica et Ethnographica 51. Debrecen ,Szentendre, Debreceni Egyetem Néprajzi Tanszék, 2009)

TELEPÜLÉS - ÉPÍTÉSZET - LAKÁSKULTÚRA - ETHNOGRAPHY AND MUSEOLOGY STUDIES IN FOLK ARCHITECTURE AND MUSEOLOGICAL ETHNOGRAPHY

MIKLÓS CSERI ETHNOGRAPHY AND M

USEOLOGY STUDIES IN FOLK ARCHITECTURE AND M

USEOLOGICAL ETHNOGRAPHY CONTENTS MUSEOLOGY IN OPEN AIR MUSEUMS THE ROLE AND POSSIBILITIES OF OPEN AIR MUSEUMS IN THE CHANGING WORLD According to a general view in ethnographical museology, the body of ethnographical museums in the world today may be divided into two large units. One of these is made up of the so-called universal ethnographical museums, dubbed anthropological museums in the Anglo-Saxon countries and called Völkerkunde by the Germans. Primarily, they would preserve and display material coming from the former colonial areas or from the aboriginal peoples. The other group comprises the institutions specializing in the exhibits deriving from the former folk-peasant or artisan layers or classes of European societies. Although they host similar collections, for reasons of differences in the display format and their particular professional specializations, they may be separated again into two larger sub-types: indoor and open air museums. This presentation discusses the potentially problematic issues related to open air museums in the 21

s

t century, by touching upon the professional and social challenges facing diem and also on their responses to these challenges. OPEN AIR MUSEUMS AND LIVING HISTORY BUILDINGS

1 IN HUNGARY AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM In the autumn of 2004, at the centenary memorial meeting hosted by Janus Pannonius Múzeum in Pécs

, a couple of noteworthy and rather interesting facts and figures were announced about the attendance details concerning museums in Germany and the European Union. Edith Schoeneck reported that, in Germany (with a population of 86 million), 110 million museum visitors were registered in 2003. Among these people, 30% went to see open air museums, living history setdements, or village museums (Freilichtmuseum, Heimatmuseum, Dorfmuseum) to spend a considerable part of their free time there. Out of the 350 million people in the European Union, more than an annual 500 million pays regular visits to museums. The proportion of those going to open air museums among them is roughly the same as in Germany. As regards Hungary, following a temporary, although significant, decrease in the number of museum visitors after the shift in the political regime in 1989, a similar tendency can be discerned. By pointing out the parallel features present in the European and Hungarian trends concerning issues in visitor interest, this short report focuses on the chief tendencies and latent problems in the development and operation of living history buildings and open air museums or collections in Hungary. 1 The I Tungarian term is "tájház" [verbatim: "regional house" and, mislcadingly, translated as "country house" at www.tajhaz.hu| 401