The Hungarian town of Szentendre is known for its small museums dedicated to individual artists, but the Margit Kovács Museum stood out in popularity after it first opened in 1973. Looking at the ceramicist’s Bundt-Cake Madonna, it is not hard to understand why. As the title indicates, the conical shape of the Madonna’s body is designed to recall a cake; the white glazing on the surface, then, makes us think of the cake’s icing. The baby Jesus wears the same, cake-shaped garment, but a tiny one, and his mother holds him lovingly, gently bending her neck to touch her face to the baby’s crown. It is a sweet composition, and it is also a very well-formed one, which unites simple, pure form with intricate surface decoration, so that the ceramic sculpture as a whole appears robust and solid, rather than finicky. It represents a cake that is not only sweet, but also filling; a dessert of considerable substance.
Tag: World’s Fairs
Recordings of the CRAACE conference Exhibitions, New Nations and the Human Factor
The CRAACE conference Exhibitions, New Nations and the Human Factor, 1873–1939 took place at the Institut national d’histoire de l’art in Paris on 4–5 April 2022. Focusing on world’s fairs and international exhibitions, it looked beyond their official, state-sponsored aims and considered the role of individuals and groups in them. Who were the people who organised them, designed them, worked in them and visited them? The conference placed agency at the heart of the discussion. To what extent did those involved adhere to or challenge the ostensible purpose of these events?
For those who missed the conference or would like to revisit the talks, we will make recordings of the individual sessions available on Youtube for a limited time. The sessions will be posted below on this page one by one as they become available, so watch this space.
Exhibitions, New Nations and the Human Factor, 1873–1939: CRAACE conference in Paris
Our conference Exhibitions, New Nations and the Human Factor, 1873–1939 will take place at
the Institut national d’histoire de l’art in Paris
on 4–5 April 2022.
The conference on world’s fairs and international exhibitions looks beyond their official, state-sponsored aims and considers the role of individuals and groups in them. Who were the people who organised them, designed them, worked in them and visited them? It places agency at the heart of the discussion. To what extent did those involved adhere to or challenge the ostensible purpose of these events?
New article by Marta Filipová on Czechoslovakia at the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris
An article by CRAACE research fellow Marta Filipová, ‘The theatre of exhibitions: Czechoslovakia at the International Exhibition in Paris, 1937,’ has just been published in the Journal of Design History.
New article by Marta Filipová on the Czechoslovak State at Interwar World’s Fairs
An article by CRAACE research fellow Marta Filipová, ‘“Highly Civilized, yet Very Simple”: Images of the Czechoslovak State and Nation at Interwar World’s Fairs,‘ has just been published in the journal Nationalities Papers.