History The headquarters in Cluj The Society was named after the Unitarian bishop János Kriza After World War II, the communist regime terminated the ethnographic education at Bolyai University in 1948, leaving Hungarian ethnographic research in Romania without any background institution. Nevertheless, ethnography was included in the subjects of other faculties (history, humanities), and research and publications were published by various institutions until 1989. After the Romanian Revolution the Hungarian ethnographers felt the need to set up a research organization, which represents and advocates their interests. The Kriza János Ethnographic Society was founded in Cluj-Napoca (Hungarian: Kolozsvár) on March 18 , 1990. Its initiators included ethnographers Klára Gazda, Csilla Könczei, Ferenc Pozsony and Erzsébet Zakariás. Until 1994 the institute had its first seat in the apartment of Júlia Sigmond, a puppeteer from Cluj. The founder president was Ferenc Pozsony, the first secretary was Erzsébet Zakariás, and its first honorary president was Iván Balassa ( 1991-2002 ). The Society was named after the Unitarian bishop János Kriza, who was a well known Transylvaninan collector of folklore in the 19th century. The goal of the founding founding Transylvanian intellectuals, teachers and museologists was to study folk culture, to process and preserve the material and intellectual heritage and to examine these professionally. In addition to regular field research, folklore collecting competitions, thematic professional conferences, seminars, exhibitions, publishing results, establishing a documentation center, the Society also intended to play a role in protecting the ethnographers interests and liaising with Hungarian ethnographic researchers and institutions in the Carpathian Basin. At the same time, as an educational and cultural background institution, they considered it important to contribute to the Hungarian-language ethnographic training at the University of Cluj. Since there were few opportunities for continuous professional relations between 1945 and 1989, the Kriza János Ethnographic Society organized 2-3 thematic conferences a year in various settlements in Transylvania. Researchers from Hungary also took an active part in this by transferring their knowledge, the latest research and interpretation methods of European ethnography. In the autumn of 1990, Professor János Péntek at the Babeș-Bolyai University restarted ethnographic education, and since 1995 more and more young people with an ethnographic qualification have been admitted to educational, cultural, scientific and museal institutions in Romania. As Romanian scientific environment did not integrate the results of Hungarian researchers in the 1990s, the management of the Society sought to establish an independent center for science, documentation, culture and education. As a result of the work of József Kötő and Erzsébet Zakariás, with the support of the Illyés Foundation, the Kriza János Ethnographic Society moved into its real estate in 1994 in the center of Cluj. In its headquarters, the specialized library, archive, information-, education- and culture center were gradually built up. Mária Szikszai, Dóra Czégényi, Éva Borbély, Judit Keszeg and Erzsébet Tímea Tatár played a decisive role in the continuous processing and operation of the repository and the library. In 2001, the Society also initiated the establishment of a Csángó museum. With the support of the Hungarian Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, the first permanent exhibition of the Csángó Ethnographic Museum was opened on September 14 , 2003 in Zăbala. In 2004, with the support of the Apáczai Foundation, the mansard of the headquarters was converted to a space suitable for lectures and exhibitions. The reconstruction was led by Árpád Töhötöm Szabó. In the same year, the Society was also a founding member of the Hungarian University Federation of Cluj, which serves as the background institution of Hungarian higher education in Cluj. Publishing Publications From the outset, publishing has been a major task for the Society. Depending on the possibilities, 5-10 volumes are published each year. These books ensure the presentation of the latest results of the Hungarian ethnographic research in Romania and the work of the Society's members. Projects Since its foundation, the Society has undertaken and carried out several projects and researches. Preliminary work on the ethnography of Hungarians in Romania: the researchers of the Society collected, systematized and prepared for publication the ethnographic bibliography of Hungarians in Romania. The Society undertook several current researches in the Moldavian Csángó communities with the aim of ethnographic and anthropological examination of the social structure of the researched villages, the collection of texts and language relicts, and the professional documentation of acculturation and identity change. During the Moldavian linguistic geography research jointly launched with ELTE Department of Linguistics, the linguistic status of Moldavian Csángó villages was researched and digitally recorded. During the analysis of the economic models of the Transylvanian villages, the researchers of the Society carried out a study of the parallel presenc of the new mentality and strategies and the old patterns in these communities. In addition, they sought answers to the problems and prospects of the economic structure of Hungarian rural communities in Transylvania, and to what factors help or hinder the development of the rural region. The project investigating the structure of transforming localities seeks to find out what local identities develop in the Transylvanian worlds as a result of and in the face of national discourses and national aspirations. At the same time the project examines the public events, narratives, and narrative constructs in which localities appear. Impact assessment of the motorway to be built through Northern Transylvania: study of the culture of the affected settlements, with an emphasis on de-traditionalization and tradition-building, and on how the different levels of rural life in a modernization project of this size are transformed. The aim of the research in Aranyos Seat is to explore the cultural and economic traditions of the region. In 2006, a large-scale project entitled Digital display of the Transylvanian and Moldavian ethnographic heritage was launched in order to develop digital and online archives. Since 2015, the Transylvanian Value project has been the Society's flagship project. Its primary task is to launch, popularize, organize and professionally supervise the Hungarian national values and preservation movement in Transylvania. On behalf of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the Hungaricum Committee, the Society provides professional and methodological assistance to NGOs to locate, professionally document, archive and integrate local and regional values into the daily lives of local communities. The Society offers on-site lectures and trainers, methodological aids and training materials, as well as professional advice on the process of valuation and preparation of proposals. During the project professional conferences, methodological trainings, presentations and exhibitions are organized in Transylvania and Moldavia. As a result, the Transylvanian Values Collection website was launched, which archives the values accepted by the Transylvanian Hungarian Depository Committee
History The headquarters in Cluj The Society was named after the Unitarian bishop János Kriza After World War II, the communist regime terminated the ethnographic education at Bolyai University in 1948, leaving Hungarian ethnographic research in Romania without any background institution. Nevertheless, ethnography was included in the subjects of other faculties (history, humanities), and research and publications were published by various institutions until 1989. After the Romanian Revolution the Hungarian ethnographers felt the need to set up a research organization, which represents and advocates their interests. The Kriza János Ethnographic Society was founded in Cluj-Napoca (Hungarian: Kolozsvár) on 18 March 1990. Its initiators included ethnographers Klára Gazda, Csilla Könczei, Ferenc Pozsony and Erzsébet Zakariás. Until 1994 the institute had its first seat in the apartment of Júlia Sigmond, a puppeteer from Cluj. The founder president was Ferenc Pozsony, the first secretary was Erzsébet Zakariás, and its first honorary president was Iván Balassa ( 1991–2002 ). The Society was named after the Unitarian bishop János Kriza, who was a well known Transylvaninan collector of folklore in the 19th century. The goal of the founding founding Transylvanian intellectuals, teachers and museologists was to study folk culture, to process and preserve the material and intellectual heritage and to examine these professionally. In addition to regular field research, folklore collecting competitions, thematic professional conferences, seminars, exhibitions, publishing results, establishing a documentation center, the Society also intended to play a role in protecting the ethnographers interests and liaising with Hungarian ethnographic researchers and institutions in the Carpathian Basin. At the same time, as an educational and cultural background institution, they considered it important to contribute to the Hungarian-language ethnographic training at the University of Cluj. Since there were few opportunities for continuous professional relations between 1945 and 1989, the Kriza János Ethnographic Society organized 2–3 thematic conferences a year in various settlements in Transylvania. Researchers from Hungary also took an active part in this by transferring their knowledge, the latest research and interpretation methods of European ethnography. In the autumn of 1990, Professor János Péntek at the Babeș-Bolyai University restarted ethnographic education, and since 1995 more and more young people with an ethnographic qualification have been admitted to educational, cultural, scientific and museal institutions in Romania. As Romanian scientific environment did not integrate the results of Hungarian researchers in the 1990s, the management of the Society sought to establish an independent center for science, documentation, culture and education. As a result of the work of József Kötő and Erzsébet Zakariás, with the support of the Illyés Foundation, the Kriza János Ethnographic Society moved into its real estate in 1994 in the center of Cluj. In its headquarters, the specialized library, archive, information-, education- and culture center were gradually built up. Mária Szikszai, Dóra Czégényi, Éva Borbély, Judit Keszeg and Erzsébet Tímea Tatár played a decisive role in the continuous processing and operation of the repository and the library. In 2001, the Society also initiated the establishment of a Csángó museum. With the support of the Hungarian Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, the first permanent exhibition of the Csángó Ethnographic Museum was opened on 14 September 2003 in Zăbala. In 2004, with the support of the Apáczai Foundation, the mansard of the headquarters was converted to a space suitable for lectures and exhibitions. The reconstruction was led by Árpád Töhötöm Szabó. In the same year, the Society was also a founding member of the Hungarian University Federation of Cluj, which serves as the background institution of Hungarian higher education in Cluj. Publishing Publications From the outset, publishing has been a major task for the Society. Depending on the possibilities, 5–10 volumes are published each year. These books ensure the presentation of the latest results of the Hungarian ethnographic research in Romania and the work of the Society's members. Projects Since its foundation, the Society has undertaken and carried out several projects and researches. Preliminary work on the ethnography of Hungarians in Romania: the researchers of the Society collected, systematized and prepared for publication the ethnographic bibliography of Hungarians in Romania. The Society undertook several current researches in the Moldavian Csángó communities with the aim of ethnographic and anthropological examination of the social structure of the researched villages, the collection of texts and language relicts, and the professional documentation of acculturation and identity change. During the Moldavian linguistic geography research jointly launched with ELTE Department of Linguistics, the linguistic status of Moldavian Csángó villages was researched and digitally recorded. During the analysis of the economic models of the Transylvanian villages, the researchers of the Society carried out a study of the parallel presenc of the new mentality and strategies and the old patterns in these communities. In addition, they sought answers to the problems and prospects of the economic structure of Hungarian rural communities in Transylvania, and to what factors help or hinder the development of the rural region. The project investigating the structure of transforming localities seeks to find out what local identities develop in the Transylvanian worlds as a result of and in the face of national discourses and national aspirations. At the same time the project examines the public events, narratives, and narrative constructs in which localities appear. Impact assessment of the motorway to be built through Northern Transylvania: study of the culture of the affected settlements, with an emphasis on de-traditionalization and tradition-building, and on how the different levels of rural life in a modernization project of this size are transformed. The aim of the research in Aranyos Seat is to explore the cultural and economic traditions of the region. In 2006, a large-scale project entitled Digital display of the Transylvanian and Moldavian ethnographic heritage was launched to develop digital and online archives. Since 2015, the Transylvanian Value project has been the Society's flagship project. Its primary task is to launch, popularize, organize and professionally supervise the Hungarian national values and preservation movement in Transylvania. On behalf of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the Hungaricum Committee, the Society provides professional and methodological assistance to NGOs to locate, professionally document, archive and integrate local and regional values into the daily lives of local communities. The Society offers on-site lectures and trainers, methodological aids and training materials, as well as professional advice on the process of valuation and preparation of proposals. During the project professional conferences, methodological trainings, presentations and exhibitions are organized in Transylvania and Moldavia. As a result, the Transylvanian Values Collection website was launched, which archives the values accepted by the Transylvanian Hungarian Depository Committee
D
March
R
,
March
R
1991-2002
1991–2002
R
2-3
2–3
D
September
R
,
September
R
5-10
5–10
D
in order