TRADITIONS FOR SALE

Gari Margit

Mezökövesd couple

TRADITIONS FOR SALE is a 50-minute documentary focusing on some very special folk artists living in an area of Hungary known as Matyo. Because capitalism has brought about the loss of government support for the traditional arts, there has been a response by the village folk artists themselves. We talk to a woman who creates the designs. We see the detailed embroidery work done by older women who make goods to be sold in souvenir shops in Budapest and in their town. We meet a woodcarver who handmakes furniture to sell overseas, and we watch his son paint the colorful flowers that will decorate items to be sold in their folkstore. We hear lively Hungarian folk music as young costumed men and women put on a wedding for tourists. Spurred on by the marketplace, we see the dynamics of folklore and the revival of cultural tradtions. This is happening all over the world in countries where tourists go and want to take away something of the "traditional" culture. So, too, in Hungary

 TRADITIONS FOR SALE was written, directed, produced, edited, and narrated by Sally Gati. It was 9 years in the making and is now available. There is also a Hungarian version, Nepmuveszet elado, narrated by Zsuzsa Fodor.                For more information

flower design by ironö Bota Jozsefné

Matyó Bride and Friends

embroidery from Kisjanko Bori House

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