The Museum of Ethnography review (permanent exhibition)

(The Museum of Ethnography's permanent exhibition offers visitors a glimpse of the material culture of the Hungarian peasantry as it was from the end of the 18th century until the First World War. Through 13 rooms of material, the exhibition illustrates the ethnic and religious diversity of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin, the forms of community typical of the region, the variety of tools involved in a wide range of peasant labours, and the everyday and festival wear of the Carpathian peoples of the period.

Visitors are also familiarised with the traditions surrounding food and nutrition as held by various social groups. Of the various handicrafts pursued by village artisans, the exhibition deals in some depth with those of the furniture-maker, blacksmith, potter, felt-maker, szor tailor, bookmaker, hat maker, and furrier.)

The most important thing in every exhibition is to communicate a certain message to the audience in a right way, so they know exactly what this all is about.
From this point, i can surely say that the curator did a great job, as the exhibition is very well structured, has a clear concept, and very good set. But first thing we notice when we enter the hall is the dirt, all the white clothings are greyish, and you can guess that no one has touched any of those installations from the moment they were installed.

Another bad thing i noticed were labels on the walls, some of the words lost some of their letters (e.g. Calend_r customs, old ge..), and labels under pictures were about to tear off.

Besides that they had one TV turned off, computer with some information, but only in Hungarian, plus they offered an old video tape, with no subtitles and very quiet, so even Hungarians couldn't quite understand what they are talking about. Though the programm itself was quite interesting, at least for me.

Positive things about the exhibition are:
- good structure,
- relevant info (on the walls) - both in Hungarian and English
- Sitting places
- Good security: cameras in each room, alarms, fire extinguishers
- Thematically organised
- Clear signs of the exit
- Good titles (short and clear) and labels
- relevant light
- good installations themselves
- Relevant pictures as a background
- Useful map at the entrance

And that's probably it. Overall i would like this exhibition very much, if it was a little bit more interactive in a way, and much cleaner.