Collection Exhibition

Introduction

Permanent exhibitions as a museum genre look back onto a long and distinguished history. During the golden age of the founding of new museums, which began with the era of world fairs, the collections and the permanent exhibitions were mostly synonymous. As acquisitions progressed and collections grew, the two concepts gradually split. However, the notion of the permanent exhibition still retains something from the original goal of creating something complete.

The permanent collection exhibition of the Museum of Ethnography chose the same path. It starts out from the museum’s own collection, looking for and sharing accessible stories that reflect the complexity of the three-way relationship between the museum, objects, and people. The starting point can be as simple as a single chair. Or, it can grow from broad, multi-faceted themes, such as discovery, history of origins, field research. Or it can be built around looser conceptual frameworks, such as folk art, fine art, or heritage.

What the permanent collection exhibition does not promise is an easy path. Just as discovering the world is a significant enterprise, so is exploring
the museum universe, and in this endeavour, personal stories can grow to carry as much weight as grand narratives. This is a process where not only the artefacts play a role, but also the images, sound recordings, and written documents from the archives. A process where objects and knowledge hailing from diverse places, from Hungary and the Carpathian Basin to other continents, can enter into dialogues with each other. And where the distant histories and the recent past can be in conversation with contemporary experiences. The permanent collection exhibition is like a kaleidoscope: it is not only colourful and organised into structured patterns, but it is also open to re-organisation and re-thinking.