Straw-Treasure-Store

The Szalma-Kincs-Tár museum collection, which is located in Zengővárkony (Baranya county), near the Míves Tojás Museum.

The institution's history and collection

The Szalma-Kincs-Tár opened on 15 March 2002 in Zengővárkony, inaugurated by Bertalan Andrásfalvy. The collection presents nearly 600 straw objects from 36 countries, the result of decades of research and collecting by Tüskés Tünde. The collection is continuously expanding. Since 2010 it has regularly organized two programs each year: the Saturday flower Straw Day and, in early October, the Straw Honey Festival. In summer it holds children’s and adult camps. It regularly participates in the Budapest Museums’ May Day and takes part in Cultural Heritage Day and the Ars Sacra events. In 2018 it was entered into the local heritage register. Selected items from the collection have been shown in guest exhibitions throughout the country: Budapest, Pécsvárad, Orfű, Sülysáp, Nagyatád, Sárbogárd. Since 2018 the Szalma-Kincs-Tár Friends’ Circle has supported its work. In 2018 it created the Hungarian harvest wreath, which after being displayed in Budapest entered the collection.

Announced competitions:

2003, 2005 Materials that can be found in nature.

2007 Objects suitable for storage made of straw, rush, bulrush and sedge.

2009 I raise my hat headwear competition.

International events:

2007 “Hintsük a magot” IV International Fiber Material Festival and Art Academy.

2013 International straw braiding master course.

The institution is classified as a museum collection.

Permanent exhibition

Among the museums of Hungary, the Szalma-Kincs-Tár is a cultural‑historical and special collection. The scientifically oriented exhibition reveals the diversity of objects that can be made from straw, summarises all the processes by which cultic, utilitarian and decorative items can be crafted from straw, and also presents the tools and implements required for the various techniques. In addition to showcasing straw‑braiding traditions, it also gives space to contemporary, modern, artistic expressions, thereby striving to preserve the best of the past and open a window to the future. Folk‑art and applied‑art works demonstrate the many possibilities of using straw. In addition to Hungarian, Transylvanian, Bácska and Upper‑Hungarian straw objects, there is a rich material from Mexico, Switzerland, Japan, China, the Netherlands, England, the United States, Australia, Sweden, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Germany.

Two Udmurt grandmothers, 19th‑century Swiss lace‑work mustralapok and a Huicita Indian ceremony hat are special values of the collection. The part presenting the story of straw braiding and other European straw centres calls the visitor’s attention, from both folkloric and historical points of view, to values that, because of the material’s simplicity and everyday nature, are not always noticed. The museum collection – which was recognized by the museums of Wohlen (Switzerland) and Luton (England) as well as by the California Museum of American Straw Art, a sister museum – offers numerous novelties not only to straw braiders but also to researchers and folklorists, and provides a special aesthetic experience to tourists visiting the village. The aesthetic, artistic, cultural‑historical, material, entertainment and curiosity value of the collection places it among museum collections. Beyond its traditional, entertaining‑educational role, the museum also uncovers the hidden cultures of peoples and the artistic creativity of creators through objects made of straw.