Talks on establishing a collection for the museum took place over the past several days in Morocco, said Helikon Castle Museum director László Czoma.
The Western Transdanubia Regional Development Council recently promised HUF 1.5 billion in support to preserve the heritage of the Festetics family, who earlier owned the castle. It is hoped a significant portion of the money can be used to support the creation of a Museum of Eastern Arts as there were many Chinese and Japanese salons in the Festetics Castle which all vanished with time, Czoma said.
A collection of Islamic art, partly a gift from a private museum in Kuwait, opened in the city in 2004. The collection, valued at almost HUF 1 billion, contains objects from 23 countries from Morocco to India. These objects will form the base for the new Museum of Eastern Arts, which would be located behind the Hunting Museum, opened last year in a converted barracks returned to the city.
The museum will show not only sacred art, but the way of life, the customs, the culture, the everyday objects and the instruments of the Islamic world.
The first tenders for the museum are expected to be called in September and it could open at the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, Czoma said.
Czoma said the talks in Morocco were extraordinarily successful. He was hosted at a special dinner by the House Speaker and held talks with the state secretary in charge of international cultural contacts as well as with the head of the House committee for cultural and foreign affairs. Morocco's culture minister also met with the museum director.
The trip took Czoma to museums in Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MEK OSZK
