Opening of the exhibition "Székelys – Patterns of Heritage " at the Museum of Ethnography

In the third part of Áron Tamási's rightly popular novel, upon arriving at the port, Ábel, who is travelling to America, must report his affiliation. He admits that he is indeed Székely. When asked, “What kind of nation is the Székely?” he replies, “Hungarian, but even better.”

I cordially welcome the management, experts and staff of the Museum of Ethnography, the members of the museums in Hungary and Szeklerland, the museologists and historians, the outstanding experts whose quality work has contributed to this unique exhibition, and all the guests of today's opening ceremony!

I do not think that a person who is only "simply" Hungarian has any reason to take offence at the sentence I just quoted. 
After all, all of us are proud of our country, our homeland, our community. The Hungarian identity has always been elevated by a close connection, an inextricable bond with the landscape and the community into which we are born. It leaves an indelible imprint that we carry and wear proudly throughout our lives.

At the same time, those who know the Szeklers well can find much truth in Ábel's self-definition, because centuries of perseverance and persistence are compressed into this one sentence.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is a source of pride that many museums are dedicated to the presentation and preservation of the values rooted in our people's past. The Museum of Ethnography - and with it other institutions in Hungary and abroad - juxtapose the mosaic pieces of Hungarian and Carpathian Basin community life, from which our common culture and value system is built.
Therefore, if you like, the significance of such an exhibition may even be somewhat greater than that of the collections that bring together the treasures of high culture, since the values preserved and presented here are about all of us, they are part of the past of every Hungarian. 

The roots of our identity and traditions come together in these museums. Here we find ourselves.
The material values we preserve also reveal the spiritual and intellectual values that are integral to us. The folklore we inherit is a mirror for us. A mirror that is good to look into. It brings us closer to knowing ourselves. And that is an experience that no one else can give us. Because this distinguished museum, and other collections throughout the Carpathian Basin, can tell the story of every Hungarian, and can speak clearly to every Hungarian. What we find in these collections is our own story. 

The exhibition opening today presents a chapter in this shared history.

The presentation of surviving memorabilia that reflect values and traditions passed down through generations reinforces identity. Those who composed it - and have dedicated their professional lives to building these collections - deserve respect and appreciation. Especially if they have to do their work in an unsupportive environment or perhaps in a headwind. Their mission is a force for our survival as a nation. They pass on the wealth we have inherited so that future Hungarians can build on it.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

What is on display in the exhibition opening today - and throughout the Museum of Ethnography - is a reflection of community life. When we are dazzled by the objects and folk art on display, we are actually admiring the community from which they come. 

A community is created in the adherence to shared values. This attachment is natural, not forced or artificial, nor does it involve coercion.
It is both an inherited and freely adopted value system that defines every member of the community. It is embodied in traditions, works of art, costumes, customs and various utensils.

The community upholds us because we uphold each other in it. We transcend our own interests in order to transcend ourselves and move towards each other. This is how we connect with each other. Community is the strong fabric of life. From it comes responsibility for one another, based on a sense of spiritual-emotional-ethical belonging. 

This kind of community is missing in the lives of many of us today. Fewer and fewer people understand, and unfortunately, due to a lack of experience, feel what it means to belong to a community, what it adds to life. Yet a nation cannot survive its communities, because it relies on its communities. The Szeklers are perhaps so unwavering in their Hungarian identity because they strongly uphold the community in which they can live out their national belonging.

Those who gather these artefacts, as you are doing, are once again collecting the foundation pieces of future Hungarian communities.
So that everyone can see them, get to know them, recognise them, and be enchanted by them. So that we are inspired to move towards each other again.

Knowing those who belong to us brings us closer to ourselves. And in an age of disintegration, your work is a mission that goes beyond the values of the past. Your work is for the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

What is on display from today, brought here by the staff of renowned Szekler institutions, is the history of Szekler folk development for about two centuries. 
And the traces of this nearly seven generations of time can still be found alive here and there. While most of us can only admire these treasures, which generations of Hungarians have passed down from community to community, in showcases, there are some who are born into such an environment and live their days surrounded by these objects. There are places where tradition is still alive, and there are Hungarian communities where the way of life connected to the displayed objects, folk art characteristics, and customs has remained vibrant.

These people live in a world that, unfortunately, has been lost from most of our everyday lives. However, some Szekler communities can still be described as living in this way.

The Szekler people are surrounded by legends. The Szeklers are firm in their steadfastness, in upholding their values and identity. It is as if this community in the Hungarian nation always shines a light on the good part of us, as if it shows the nobler side of the nation. But let us not talk about the Szeklers as if we wanted to put them in a showcase. They are a living and life-seeking part of the universal Hungarian nation.

The Szeklers have retained their own characteristics, but they are changing, evolving and developing just like any other part of our nation. Even if, in their case, tradition and modernity are not necessarily at odds.
Tradition is not a handcuff; it can be lived in a changing world while we are moving on with progress. Tradition itself does not uphold us, what upholds us is the life of values that it engenders.

The Pilgrimage of Csíksomlyó is not a soul-stirring event that fulfils the spirit until its next edition because it has a track record of half a century, but rather because, in the light of a higher power, those gathered there continuously affirm one another as a community while praising the Lord.
We admire the Szekler communities not because they sometimes dress in folk costumes, love good pálinka, tell witty jokes or use tools and follow customs that we hardly know anymore, but because they set an example of solidarity and value preservation.

Ladies and Gentlemen!
The Szeklers do not tremble in the face of new trials. In Tamási Áron's novel, Ábel, who encountered the first questioner upon arriving in America, could not be deterred even by a whole committee. When Ábel had to define himself again, he nuanced his self-identification by stating that 'the Szeklers are the oldest and most clever Hungarians, but also the most abandoned.’

However, I would argue with the last assertion. Of course, I understand...
And there is no denying the historical context that leads from Madéfalva to the destruction of villages and, in some cases, beyond. But even so, this is not - and cannot be - accepted. Those who belong to us cannot be abandoned. Because we will not let them. Because they are part of us. Because we belong together. Just as from now on, the best of the ethnographic collections of Szekler museums can be seen together with the exhibits presenting the folklore characteristics of the whole of the Hungarian nation. 

The exhibition is now open! 

God bless the Szeklers, God bless all Hungarians!
Budapest, 14 October 2024.