Repository of Built and Intellectual Heritage of the Upper-Tisza Region

Inauguration of the Shalanky Village House Museum - Experienced past, and living memory

Which village in Transcarpathia is most closely associated with the Rákóczi War of Independence? Which settlement in our region has the noblest barrel-making traditions? Can you tell me where, until recently, it was most likely to collect archaic prayers and fairy tales? There is only one answer to the rhetorical questions raised above: this place is the Ugocsa settlement, Shalanky, which is justifiably proud of its Kuruc traditions. It is there where a village house museum was inaugurated last weekend.

In the framework of the EU cross-border cooperation project Hungary-Romania-Slovakia-Ukraine (HUSKROUA), a neat house with a front porch was bought, renovated with the help of the local community and furnished with dozens of donated items. As was announced at the opening ceremony, the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (THCA) actively contributed to the development of the infrastructure, while the Transcarpathian Hungarian Tourist Board (THTB) contributed to the implementation of the professional tourism part of the international tender. The main thing is that they realised an object that is a living interactive mediator of the folk traditions of Transcarpathia, where, in addition to learning about the traditional tools of the cooper craft and the process of making barrels, visitors can gain insight into the mysteries of weaving, and can make folk-inspired souvenirs using natural materials and learn about various folk games in the framework of craft activities organised in the village house museum.

The Shalanky Village House Museum was inaugurated – Experienced past, and living memory. Photo: Kárpátinfo/ Elemér Kovács

 

“Thanks to the international tender currently underway, the THTB and the THCA will include four Transcarpathian village house museums in their large-scale project,” András Mester, president of THTB, informed those present at the ceremonial opening. “In the Vyshkovo Village House Museum, we created a blacksmith’s workshop and a flax processing pavilion. In the Choma Yurt Museum, those interested can gain an insight into the life of the conquering Hungarians, as well as learn about horse breeding and equestrian traditions, whereas in the soon-to-be handed over Muzhiyeve Village House Museum, grape growing and processing, as well as winemaking, will naturally be the focus, and in Shalanky, we can study the tricks of the cooper craft, and trace the formation of the local Rákóczi cult and its continued existence. Our undisclosed goal,” said the president, “is to sell local natural products in the stores set up in these houses, in addition to preserving the identity of the locals and those living in the surrounding villages and nurturing traditions. In this way, the producers of these products can get some extra income.”

“Community spaces of this kind are important, and the residents of the settlement actively participated in the creation, renovation of the premises, and the collection of objects,” stressed Alexandra Csizmadia, the foreign economic attaché of the Consulate General of Hungary in Uzhhorod.

“Shalanky is a settlement with a history of almost 700 years. During this time, its inhabitants have lived through many difficult and many glorious periods,” began his speech József Barta, Vice President of the THCA. “It is enough to mention that in February 1711, the great prince held his last parliament here. The new Shalanky Village House Museum, which is now being inaugurated, helps us look back into the past and gives us hope for the future. We can see what our ancestors, who bravely faced the difficulties, have created over the decades. The installation of the museum has once again demonstrated what a cohesive community we are, proud of our past,” said the native of the village.

 

“Our old dream has come true today,” this is how the letter begins, written by Barnabás Kész, the creator of the village house museum, and a teacher at the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education. “Let’s not forget that the people of Shalanky not only fought during the war of independence marked by Rákóczi’s name, but also took part in the freedom struggles of 1848/49. After that, our men went through the hell of the First and Second World Wars, the people of the village suffered from the Czechoslovak era and the decades of the Soviet dictatorship.”

 

“All this is reflected in the human destinies preserved in hundreds of photographs. They have been donated to the museum by the village community,” added his wife, Margit Kész, an ethnographer. She pointed out that it is the life stories presented in the photographs that make the history of the past decades personal and bring it closer to the visitor.

 The Shalanky Village House Museum is special not only because of its well-equipped and well-furnished workshop. The first room, the so-called “clean room”, is furnished with typical objects from the 60s, 70s and 80s of the twentieth century, the century that is now behind us. The kitchen and the pantry are reminiscent of a somewhat earlier period, when the people of the village were almost entirely self-sufficient. The local shop had little more than salt, matches and petroleum. The third room is a reconstruction of one of the rooms in the hunting lodge of the great prince. It will also be used for craft workshops.

Lajos Józan, a retired Reformed pastor and local historian, recalled the significant events of the last two hundred and fifty years of his home village.

The official opening was closed by the performance of Szintia Molnár and the local women's choir. The large number of guests then had the opportunity to taste the traditional dishes of Shalanky such as the vinegared ‘bábabéles’ soup, which was made with home-made sausage, rice, scrambled eggs, and thickening. But among the delicacies, they could also find another local speciality, the ball cruller.