Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
Influences
TRANSYLVANIA, KALOTASZEG Tara Cälatei Drawings by Károly Kós, photos by his son, Dr Károly Kós, ethnographer ‘Parallel with the transformation of the churches and graveyards of the Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) Region, as they acquired a characteristically local appearance, occurred the transformation of the entire village, the houses and outhouses, the interiors and the plots, which would all develop to suit the artistic sense and innate taste typical of the people of the Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) Region. ... It is true that Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) is a secluded region - ethnographically entirely so, geographically mostly. Economically and culturally its heyday was in the 14th and 15th centuries, when it was able to gain considerable political independence. In terms of folk art (apart from costumes), the region adhered to and conserved the artistic style of the 14th and 15th centuries. Even though it has always been crisscrossed by busy highways and the very first railway line of Transylvania traverses it and the region itself lies in the vicinity of Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), the largest town of Transylvania, Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) still managed to preserve and autonomically develop its Hungarian folk art, which is richer and certainly more original than that of any other Hungarian ethnographical region. This may seem surprising considering that the people of Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) are one of the most mobile Hungarian ethnic groups, who have always loved travelling have never lived a secluded life and have always been keen on visitingforeign parts. Artistic conservatism on the part of the people of Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) is not even some kind of unconscious, instinctive defensive mechanism but conscious self-esteem, a supreme human quality, which is a consequence of the innate and unquestionably supreme folk intelligence of the people of the Kalotaszeg (Tara Cälatei) region’. KOS 1932:m~169-■Kftlofa/zfgi ivirM/ lriny-Tvrffázvf-glwi-A girl from Türe in traditional dress K Ház, 1909 Map of Kalotaszeg/Tara Cälatei, Károly Kós, Régi Kalotaszeg, 1912 Left: The Calvinist Church of Magyarvalkó (Väleni), photo by László Haris Kaiotaszeg/Tara Cälatei, circa 1955 photo by Dr. Károly Kós Kriza János Néprajzi Társaság fotóarchívuma, KJNT 00130 Sztána/Stana, 1950 photo by Dr. Károly Kós Kriza János Néprajzi Társaság fotóarchívuma, KJNT 00122 25
