As we reported in June, the exhibition titled “Csongrád in the Kádár Era” was created at the Tari László Museum in Csongrád with the help of high school beneficiaries from Szentes. In connection with the exhibition, which has enjoyed great success ever since, an opportunity arose to present our work in a lecture at the Continuing Education for Ethnographic Museologists, the largest annual conference in the profession.
The annual theme of the conference, held this time in Nyíregyháza, was interiors; therefore, the focus was primarily on presenting the living space details we envisioned for the exhibition, the choice of exhibits used, and the possibilities of bringing them into interaction with visitors. In the presentation, I emphasized that the important fact that this exhibition was realized with the collaboration of our little team—the youth of the Csányi Foundation—gained relevance precisely because of bringing the audience and institutions closer together and attracting younger generations. After the lectures in the conference section, a round-table discussion followed with the participants, during which numerous questions were raised and several professionals expressed their appreciation: By introducing teenagers to culture, engaging them actively, and entrusting them with responsible tasks, a pedagogical good practice was realized that remains unprecedented to date. Furthermore, we are filled with pride that the partner museum harbors such trust in the Foundation as to allow young people to carry out work such as utilizing collection storage rooms, conducting archival research, and contributing directly to the exhibition building process.
Sándor Kovács, mentor, Szentes Group 1
