11th Autumn Festival of Museums to be launched

Visitors are welcome all over the country for seven weeks with 1700 programmes of 150 museums within the Autumn Festival of Museum to be launched on 26th September the slogan of which this year is “Build bridges. – Bridge that connects” reflecting on the Széchenyi memorial year organised to appreciate the oeuvre of the “greatest Hungarian”.

The priority aim of the festival is to advocate setting up museum friends circles and strengthening the role of those already in operation by providing new aims and roles for them. In this spirit, several museums have already involved local NGOs in the organisation of their festival programmes.

Similarly to last year, the events and locations of the current Autumn Festival of Museums are accessible on a free mobile app EVENT@HAND MOF developed by SZTAKI. The users can upload and share their personal responses to the events. Due to the cooperation of Autumn Festival of Museums and Hungarian Touristic Agency, discount hotel reservations will be available at the towns and villages of the participating museums.

The festival will be focusing on ten different topics.

The priority target groups of the festival include teachers, school groups, educational institutions, and families with small children. For the first time this year, museums offer programmes, camps to school children during the autumn school break within the programmes of “Tuned to Autumn”.

The Teachers’ Night primarily reaches out to teachers and presents museum opportunities to them, and urge them to use museums as places of out-of-school knowledge transfer.

The Kindergarten teachers’ day provides opportunities to get involved in museum programmes, to meet, and share experience and build network for those concerned.

Museum staff step out of the museum in the Travelling Museum programmes by organising exchange or travelling exhibitions, surprising passers-by by outdoor exhibitions, and their Museum-in-a-suitcase programmes are transported to school.

Old, forgotten crafts, but pursued by many in the past are revived in programmes and exhibitions within the topic of Masters and creators.

Unconventional sightseeing tours and bike tours are offered to the adventurous within the Walk and cycle with us topic, when cultural and natural values of the settlement are focused on by museum experts.

16+ Meeting in the museum – Mystery at the museum is planned for the youth, especially for secondary school students and young adults when they can take part in interactive programmes and can play the role of a detective and solve puzzles recalling the world of crime stories.

The Let’s create together events are marked with the fusion of creativity, innovation, inventions and art; the theme of the shared creative activities are provided by Bridge that connects, local values and the autumn nature.

The Farewell to Autumn includes exhibition openings, meetings with the audience, professional talks, events on specials days, or playful family afternoons in addition to this year’s special museum programmes commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. Professional programmes are always an indispensable part of the festival, which are linked to this year’s main theme of the festival “Build bridges. – Bridge that connects”, as well as special other themes which will attract professionals of the museum and other cultural fields.

In 2016, the Autumn Festival of Museums includes two major events: the 8th National Museum Education Conference and the 14th National Museum Education Year Opening. The Excellence in Museum Education award is to be handed over at the latter event. The award was established by the Hungarian Open Air Museum.

The organiser of the Autumn Festival of Museums is the Museum Education and Methodology Centre, Hungarian Open Air Museum.

More information:

Enikő Balogh

programme coordinator

Museum Education and Methodology Centre, Hungarian Open Air Museum.

+36 70 682 54 90

e-mail: eniko.balogh.sznm@gmail.com

www.oszifesztival.hu