Exhibition research display object 11: Bátaapáti village musicians

This photograph from the Bátaapáti village museum captures a group of children and their teacher holding musical instruments in a forest setting. The scene feels oddly curious, even though the forest would have been a familiar and natural backdrop to their lives. At the time that this picture was taken, Bátaapáti was a thriving German minority village with a population more than double what it is today. The region was known for its folkloric harp tradition, a tradition connected to German and Sinti Roma minorities. Traveling harp players, so-called “wandering harpists,” moved from village to village to earn their living from playing street music at crossroads and markets. Rohmann Henrik (1920–1978), a famous harp player from Bátaapáti is still remembered today with a commemorative plaque and an annual concert held in his honor at the local church. Unfortunately, opportunities for the youth in Bátaapáti to learn music and dance are now virtually nonexistent. However, one cultural landmark, the Apponyi Mansion, offers them a glimpse into the past. Once a base for the noble family’s agricultural operations and a venue for hunting gatherings with friends and family, the mansion has been beautifully renovated thanks to compensation funding from PURAM. Today, it serves a new purpose as a guesthouse for rural tourism and hosts among other things, creative photography camps. This shift in economic and cultural life is addressed in the film by Krisztina Erdei and Dániel Misota in a symbolic reversal: the only young man in the village who plays an instrument and is willing to perform, sings a song with his guitar in the forest, while the photographers from one of the photography camps take his picture.