Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 206-2-45

Title

Contagious Middle Ages in Post-Communist East-Central Europe

Date(s)

2006

Description Level

Series

Context

Name of creator(s)

Open Society Archives at Central European University

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

Among a range of interesting Post-Communist cultural phenomena, we have witnessed the emergence of what has been labeled the New Middle Ages by Umberto Eco. The resurrected Middle Ages in Hungary and East-Central Europe, however, exhibits different traits from West European festivals and spectacles. Above all, the phenomenon lies much closer to politics, sometimes with positive overtones, but, unfortunately, frequently with menacing, even destructive effects. Medieval monuments became a central battleground in the wars that marked the dissolution of Yugoslavia. And this is not atypical, political battles continue to be fought around medieval sites throughout the region. The centuries-old ruins of medieval fortresses and grand church edifices are being reconstructed, resurrected from the annals of history, to be turned into national memorials. And there is more: state and church anniversaries, millennial celebrations, canonizations of national saints, the revival of archaic traditions as well as the ideologies that they embodied, the reemergence of pagan cult sites, wax-puppet shows, martial arts, tournaments, touristic and gastronomic commodities, films, rock musicals, festivals... A huge and burgeoning mass, the infectious expansion of which may be perceived with interest, perhaps surprise, and even a little anxiety. This exhibition presents the complex political role, the entertaining and menacing faces (OR the comedy and the tragedy), of these new plastic Middle Ages.

Scope and Content (Narrative)

The exhibition relies upon two earlier programs.

In 2001 the Galeria Centralis of OSA staged a large exhibition, curated by Katalin Dobó, and a conference on the Hungarian Millennium. A large portion of this exhibiton is still on view on the OSA's homepage: http://w3.osaarchivum.org/galeria/katalogus/2001/millennium/virtual/index.html

In June 2003 the CEU Medieval Studies Department organized a Summer University on the Uses and Abuses of the Middle Ages in Post-Communist East-Central Europe. The course was led by Gábor Klaniczay and supported by a research program in which students collected a large quantity of documents and objects on the subject. Their finds represent a significant portion of the material exhibited here. There have already been two small "internal" exhibitions based on this material, one related to the Summer University in 2003 and the other related to an international conference at the CEU on Uses and Abuses of the Middle Ages: 19th-21st century, organized by János Bak, Jörg Jarnut, Pierre Monnet, Bernd Schneidmüller on April 1-2, 2005.

Curators: Klaniczay Gábor and Tóth G. Péte.
Special thanks to: Katalin Dobó.

Design and installations: Judit Beck.
The following institutions and organizations and people were involved in the realization of the event:
Viktor Cziráki
Sarolta Eörsi
Péter Erdősi
Ottó Gecser
Csaba Hidán
Mihály Hoppál
József Laszlovszky
Csaba Nyers
Orsolya Réthelyi
Vera Sallayné Tóth
Krisztina Sedlmayr
András Takács
Csaba Tóth
Tamás Tóth
Gábor Virágos
András Zsuppán

Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum
Veszprém Megyei Múzeumi Igazgatóság
Veszprémi Petofi Színház
Veszprémi Városi Muvelodési Ház
PMMI Árpád Múzeum
Zikkurat Produkció
With special thanks to the staff of the Open Society Archives as well as to the students of the CEU Medieval Department who participated in the collection of the materials.
The exhibition titled Contagious Middle Ages in Post-Communist East-Central Europe has an on-line version as well, see: http://w3.osaarchivum.org/files/exhibitions/middleages/index.html
Open: September 15, 2006 - October 20, 2006

Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Not restricted

Languages

English, Hungarian