Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts (Hopp Ferenc Azsiai Muveszeti Muzeum) – förlag

This book, published in conjuction with an exhibition, presents the art of the nomad inhabited regions along the northern border of ancient China. In the first half of the twentieth century, serious efforts began in Hungary to collect objects related to the Asiatic Huns, who were among the peoples that once lived along the northern border of China. The interest was largely prompted by excavations carried out by Hungarianborn Sir Aurel Stein at the start of the century and the publication of his archaeological finds, which provided scientific substantiation that the Xiongnu, a tribe known from Chinese sources, were related to the Asiatic Huns. This exhibition presents the art of the nomadinhabited regions along the northern border of ancient China. This art, which bears numerous Chinese influences, is defined by the socalled Ordos bronzes, which are shown here in a broader historical and artistic context. Following the line of the Great Wall, visitors can see almost 300 exhibits from this diverse material: the clothing attachments and belt decorations of the Asiatic Huns, their weapons and utility items, and their varied harness fittings. With their characteristic forms and ornaments, the objects clearly illustrate the words of the Hopp Museum's first director, Zoltan Felvinczi Takacs: "However far we [Hungarians] have fallen from our ancient culture, however deeply we have melded into Europe, our roots still reach into Asia."

Through nearly 200 artworks, documents,and interactive elements, the exhibition catalogue explores the making ofwashi, the material’s versatility, its historical role, and contemporaryreinterpretations, with an emphasis on the preservation and restoration ofpaper. The main thematic sections explore the biology of washi; the making ofwashi; the relationship between paper and ink in calligraphy and painting; therelationship between paper and woodblock printing, books, and visual culture;and the many roles of paper in Japanese life, from architecture, ritual,hygiene, packaging, clothing, and seasonal festivals to contemporary art,design, conservation, and museum interpretation. The exhibition is based onresearch projects conducted at the Parkes Collection at the Victoria and AlbertMuseum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London), and on local surveys anddiagnostics related to paper-based Japanese objects.

The Knorr family occupied the building for seven years, after which, for reasons unknown, they sold it to Ferenc Hopp, a well-respected businessman who had already completed his first trip around the world, and who moved there from his apartment on the Grand Boulevard as he needed more and more space for his ever-expanding collection. In his first years in his new home, he changed little on the house itself, but he transformed his garden into one of the most magical sights of Budapest. On his first tour of the globe, Hopp had visited the famous botanical gardens in Buitenzorg (now Bogor), a Dutch colonial city on West Java. The experience moved him so deeply that he decided to create similar surroundings of his own in Budapest. The Dutch name Buitenzorg can be loosely translated as 'without worries', and as his own home and garden were intended to drive away troubles, he named the villa "Buitenzorg Residence". He filled the garden with exotic plants and with curious objects he had collected on his travels, much to the amazement of the contemporary press. This volume is intended to commemorate this "worryless" garden by presenting its history, a description of the flowers, architectural features and landscaping elements it contained, and photos taken in it and of it.

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875, and this exhibition presents the early history of its Hungarian branch in the context of the intellectual and social life of the period, first and foremost in Budapest.

The publication related to the exhibition Shangay-Shanghai. Parallel Diversities Between East and West is intended to offer an overview of the creative activities of Hungarians who were attached to Shanghai in the first half of the twentieth century, and evoke the image of the East that was widespread in Hungary at the time.