A new, private ethnographic museum exhibiting the traditional values of the Maros/Mureș Seat (Marosszék in Hungarian) is set to open its doors this summer. The 4,000 pieces of art to be displayed are the private collection of Sándor Madaras, a well-known neurosurgeon from Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș who has been expanding his ethnographic collection for decades, reports Hungarian magazine Erdélyi Napló.
Madaras is known not only for his work as a neurosurgeon but also for his passion for art. After knocking on the doors of several mayors in Szeklerland to propose the ambitious project of opening an ethnographic museum in one of their cities, the neurosurgeon and art collector’s initiative was rejected, despite offering to loan the valuable works of art for free.
That was the point when Madaras decided to take the initiative into his own hands. As the owner of the Kakassy manor house in Torboszló/Torba, Maros/Mureș County, he and his wife, Dóra Kristály, decided to establish the ethnographic museum in a farmhouse on the property, which lies just under the 1,080-meter-high Bekecs/Becheci peak.
What makes this collection of traditional pieces special is that it isn’t limited to just one region of ethnicity; it is a truly
multicultural Transylvanian collection including the values of the Hungarian, Romanian and Saxon regions.
According to Madaras, the upcoming ethnographic museum in Torboszló/Torba fills a niche by keeping valuable pieces of Transylvanian culture on display for the public to view. The existing ethnographic museums in Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș and Szászrégen/Reghin are “poor,” as visitors can see and touch only a fraction of the rich culture and beauty of the Upper-Maros/Mureș and Görgény/Gurghiu areas.
Title image: Part of the private collection of Sándor Madaras, well-known neurosurgeon from Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș. Image credit: Ervin Szucher/Erdélyi Napló
