Debrecen4U
October 2, 2026
Kallós 100 Exhibition Honours One of Hungary’s Greatest Folklore Researchers in Debrecen
Dedicated to one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Hungarian folklore research, Zoltán Kallós, a panel exhibition titled Kallós 100 opened at the packed Partium House in Debrecen on 29 September 2026.
Welcoming speeches were given at the opening by István Puskás, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen for culture, and Mihály Vetró, President of the Debrecen Regional Workshop of the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA). The exhibition was created through a collaboration between the MMA Debrecen Regional Workshop, the Zoltán Kallós Foundation, Partium House and the Debrecen István Tisza Scientific Society. The exhibition was officially opened by Gyöngyi Balázs-Bécsi, Co-Chair of the Transylvanian Committee of the MMA, President of the Zoltán Kallós Foundation and a full member of the MMA.
The Kallós 100 exhibition pays tribute to the two-time Kossuth Prize-winning ethnographer and Artist of the Nation. It also features a frequently quoted thought by the late MMA member: “We will remain Hungarian as long as we sing in Hungarian and dance in Hungarian.”
Across fifteen large panels, the exhibition presents the life of the ethnographer, who was born 100 years ago, his academic and community-building work, and the heritage-preserving activities of the Zoltán Kallós Foundation. Following in the footsteps of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, Zoltán Kallós researched the folk culture of Transylvania and Moldavia, preserving nearly 15,000 folk songs and melodies for future generations. He placed particular emphasis on educating young people. His aim was for future generations to discover, appreciate and carry forward the traditions of their homeland.
On behalf of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and its Debrecen Regional Workshop, regional president Mihály Vetró welcomed those attending. He recalled that “when the country celebrated the centenary of Béla Bartók’s birth, he had the feeling that there was no one in this small homeland who had not encountered Béla Bartók.” Speaking about Zoltán Kallós, he highlighted that the outstanding people in his wider circle of friends and acquaintances owed a great deal to the renowned ethnographer, who had to struggle every day to reach villages where forgotten old folk songs and ballads could still be collected or dances recorded. Almost until the very last moment, he was also able to collect beautiful everyday and ceremonial objects in these areas, before foreign collectors could get to them. The texts and sound recordings he collected were confiscated by members of the Securitate. As a result, people visiting him smuggled these valuable relics across the border. “But an even greater thing was listening to Uncle Zoli. He had an impact on everyone who had the opportunity to talk to him about Hungarian folk traditions, his ethnographic collections from Mezőség, Kalotaszeg, Moldavia or Gyimes,” Mihály Vetró concluded.
In his speech, István Puskás, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen for culture, expressed his pleasure that, on the occasion of the distinguished centenary of Zoltán Kallós’ birth and thanks in part to the Hungarian Academy of Arts, visitors could catch a glimpse of a life story that demonstrates how deep-rooted traditions can be preserved and kept alive.
In her opening speech, Gyöngyi Balázs-Bécsi emphasised that “it is a great honour for me and for the Kallós Foundation that the exhibition has reached Debrecen. When we remember Zoltán Kallós, we should not think only of folk music, folk dance, folk costumes, household objects and photographs – behind his collections there was always the person from whom the object originated, who sang the song, who shared their knowledge, work and everyday life with him. His legacy is not only about the past, but also about how what we received from our predecessors should be interpreted in the present and passed on to the future. In his life, collecting and passing things on were inseparably linked. He did not collect so that these values would remain locked away, but so that they could be put to use, so that people could discover them, learn them and make them part of their own lives,” Gyöngyi Balázs-Bécsi said.
The Zoltán Kallós Foundation also preserves and carries forward this approach. For the institution, established in 1992, caring for the legacy is not merely a matter of preservation. Building on the collection, it carries out community and educational work in which tradition repeatedly comes into contact with younger generations. “Folk art, community culture and education, by reinforcing one another, help ensure that Hungarian folk culture does not merely remain a memory, but becomes knowledge that can be experienced, learned and passed on. This heritage remains alive when more and more people connect with it,” the academician emphasised.
A good example of this approach was a performance by Vilmos Hercz, an MMA folk-art scholarship holder, based on Zoltán Kallós’s original collections. The programme featured folk singer Ildikó Bárdosi, the Debrecen Folk Ensemble, the Forgórózsa Dance Ensemble, the Főnix Folk Dance Ensemble and dancers from the Hortobágy Folk Dance Ensemble, as well as primás Miklós Molnár and the folk musicians of the Homály Band. The magnificent performance concluded with the Bújdosódal, a song well known in Mezőség.
The exhibition can be visited until 30 October 2026.
Source: debrecen.hu | Photo credit: dehir.hu
