COURAGE

connecting collections

The bequest of Imre Baász is proof of the progressiveness of his thinking, the innovativeness of his artwork, and the dynamic cooperation in which he engaged in times of political, cultural, and intellectual oppression. In the 1980s, the progressive, radical creative work was detached from the capital Bucharest, which served as the perpetual center. In this reversed centrum–periphery relationship, the periphery offered more freedom, and it ensured security and the possibility of invisibility. An important example from Transylvania of the micro-groupings which promoted progressive ideas and Western European styles and methods is the MaMű Association of Târgu-Mureș, which actively encouraged the practice of concept art, mail art, action art, and abstract artistic language in general. Imre Baász, though never an official member of the MaMű, shared their artistic view and language, and his work in the town of Sfântu Gheorghe can be considered as the prolongation of the Association’s work.

The bequest of Hungarian folklorist and folk dance researcher György Martin is currently held at the Hungarian Heritage House. The collection offers interesting insights into the private practices of alternative culture during the Kádár era in Hungary. It contains many documents, including letters, documents about the folk dance house movement, and documents about research trips. György Martin’s correspondence in particular reflects the trajectories of a non-conformist intellectual agenda.

The bequest of János Maróthy, which is held at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Music Institute, offers insights into the heritage of a music aesthete and music researcher who was an essential figure of Hungarian music studies under socialism. The collection shows that the official infrastructure often generated spaces for critical, unofficial cultures. The Institute supported Maróthy in his efforts to collect the folk music, protest songs, and pol-beat trends, genres which helped young people criticize and rebel against official socialism.