Budapest’s dazzling winter jewellery exhibition
An exhibition entitled “Shine! – The Time of Jewellery” opened at the Hungarian National Museum, which attracted many visitors.
Jewellery exhibition in Budapest
The exhibition presents the most exceptional pieces from the museum’s jewellery collection, as well as contemporary jewellery by art collector Katalin Spengler and former and current students and lecturers of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, the press release says. The exhibition spans 40,000 years, from Hun-Aryan, medieval and Baroque works to contemporary Hungarian jewellery design. The Hungarian press hailed Shine! The Time of Jewellery as the most beautiful Advent exhibition in 2024, and its popularity is proven by the fact that less than three months after its opening, the 30,000th visitor arrived, and the museum presented them with a gift.” – said Dr. Gábor Zsigmond, Director General of the Hungarian National Museum.
The world-class collection of jewellery includes objects such as the poison ring of King Béla III, the 900-year-old ring of Kálmán Könyves and the mourning jewellery of Hungarian women who were concerned for the fate of the nation after the 1848-49 War of Independence, who stood up for the homeland and mourned the martyrs of Arad even 10 years later. In addition to the unique treasures of the Carpathian Basin, the exhibition also features contemporary jewellery art, represented by pieces from Katalin Spengler’s collection, which is renowned throughout Europe, and by the works of students and teachers from MOME – Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.
The jewellery exhibition is also enriched by the ever-changing content of the National Museum building, making it worth returning to several times. Katalin Spengler’s jewellery, among others, is housed in the museum’s magnificent staircase island. The “contemporary jewellery island”, which opened at the same time as the exhibition, was reorganised at the end of December with a new concept: contemporary jewellery is now about structure, structures, harmony, rhythm and sequences.
On 17 December, a new pop-up exhibition entitled On Boundaries – Jewellery at the Intersections of Man, Nature and the Built Environment was added to the exhibition in the Dome Room, featuring works by current and former students and teachers of MOME.
Coming months
In the coming months, the jewellery exhibition will be accompanied by a series of exciting accompanying programmes, museum education activities and workshops, and the 3000-year-old Somló necklace will remain on display in the Széchényi Room of the Museum.
The good news is that the museum has extended the exhibition until 13 April, 2025.