26. November 2008.

The works of contemporary Herend design artists were also included among the pieces of the Craft & Design exhibition which opened on November 17th at the Museum of Applied Arts.

The aim of the exhibition is to present a summary of the various trends and paths which characterise contemporary Hungarian applied art. The exhibition seeks to serve notice of the spiritual force which has and had existed in Hungarian applied arts. With the contemporary applied art pieces, the exhibition emphatically and fundamentally presents the philosophy, still valid impacts and sheer existence of the two fundamental trends of 20th century applied art, craft and design.

At the opening ceremony, Zsuzsanna Renner, the executive director of the Museum of Applied Arts, greeted the guests, after which József Pálinkás, the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, chief sponsor of the exhibition, described the greats of Hungarian applied art. Before the words of introduction and greetings of the curators of the exhibition, art historian Hilda Horváth and Márta Simonffy, the president of the Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists, author Gyula Kodolányi, the Editor in Chief of Magyar Szemle, presided over the opening ceremony.

Side-by-side the various materials and functional objects got along splendidly at the exhibition. Wood, textile, ceramics and glass all served a single purpose: the praise of Hungarian contemporary applied arts.

Contemporary applied arts are indeed unimaginable without Herend Porcelain, consequently the works of the Herend design artists of the recent past as well as those of the present may be viewed at the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts. The characteristic designs of Edit Nácsa, Etelka Meixner, Márta Nagy, Boglárka Feketü, Zoltán Takács, Ákos Tamás, Miklós Melocco and Pálma Babos are worthy pieces of the large scale exhibition – and at the same time also allow a glimpse at the new trends of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory. In addition, alongside the objects of the Ceramics Studio of Kecskemét, they provide a definitive, decisive proportion of ceramic-porcelain objects. The exhibition, which consists of approximately 1,000 pieces and may be visited on the ground level of the Museum of Applied Arts until January 11, 2009, presents, informs, summarises, and celebrates the concept containing such special meaning, the concept of applied art (which means making functional objects on an artistic level).

Related persons

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• Ákos Tamás
• Pálma Babos
• Miklós Melocco