The main topic of the Müpa Budapest exhibition of 62 photographs is the old custom of going from house to house reenacting the nativity, which was practised in Hungarian villages as recently as the 19th century. It should be imagined as a devout and joyous form of folk theatre. Boys and men would go from house to house bringing to life the birth of Christ in dramatic form, in exchange for which they would receive gifts - money, or food and drink. This tradition was just as much a total work of art as a Wagner opera: there was a place in it for poetry, singing, acting, movement and dance. The tone of these nativity plays was not only serious or religious, the rhymes were also infused on occasion with coarse peasant humour. The pictures from the Museum of Ethnography capture these scenes and bring them to us. The theatre could not happen without the right props: the home-made nativity scene was supplemented with costumes and animal fur masks. Anyone who welcomed the nativity troupe into their home also invited the Holy Family and the redeemer into their hearts. The themes of the exhibition include the table laid for Christmas and the traditions of the objects connected to the festive season.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest