The curators Mónika Lackner and Hajnalka Fülöp have picked a few dozen carpets that exhibition designer Krisztina Jerger displays in their own spotlight, like individual personalities. Tales wind around the edges of these carpets as designs that show desires and dreams against a strict peasant order.
The carpets are accompanied by period photographs and the tools used to make them.
The carpets have never before been put on display and have only been seen by researchers and restorers since they were acquired by the museum in 1902. The oldest carpet was shown at the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna, around the time cottage industry started to be encouraged among women.
The exhibition winds up with the work of the contemporary textile artist Ildikó Ardai, who uses traditional Transylvanian carpet patterns.
The exhibition, called ?Women, Hand-Woven Rugs, Home Industry?, runs from June 24, 2011 until August 26, 2012.
Author: Eszter Götz
