Page 23 - som25

Somogy, the treasury

of Hungary

Somogyland is considered by both the ethnographic stud- already in the elementary school, which no eighth-grader
ies and the domestic public opinion as the old treasury of girl can leave without having mastered the secret of making

Hungary. The legacy of our predecessors is still nurtured beaten lace. The white mourning of Csököly is considered

and passed on by our famous folk artists, folk craft smen, to be a unique costume even in the world, and a complete

and communities. The Buzsák embroidery, with numerous outfit is diffi cult to find today. Karád, the home of white

stitching techniques, is famous far and wide. Its characteris- embroidery, has long been known in Hungarian folk art.
tic colours and wealth of motifs, the “vézás” (fi lled-in pre- The typical motifs were originally only used to decorate

drawn motifs), the witchy (requiring the skills of a witch) men’s shirts made of white linen; however, the distinctive
and the applique, still appear on the textiles today, because design also appears on other household and decorative
the local embroidering women did not let this branch of items today. The village, where Zoltán Kodály and Béla

the folk art be lost. Buzsák and embroidery have long been Vikár were also collecting, is a great example of how, in ad-
linked in the minds of people, and if anyone visits this vil- dition to the embroidery, the songs and the dances of our

lage, they can still find hard-working women with needles. ancestors can be preserved, as the folk songs and the dances
The production of beaten lace, originating in Flanders, has of Karád are still part of the Hungarian “folklore treasury”.

been established in Balatonendréd for more than a century. Somogy’s Europa Nostra award-winning ethnographic
Th e handicraft, which requires extraordinary skills, en- open-air collection is found in Szenna, which shows the

riches the cultural heritage of Somogyland with its wealth visitors the folk architecture and the interior design of Inner
of forms. Breathtakingly delicate lace miracles are created Somogy and the River Dráva.

21