Architecture of Devotion - The Buildings of Lipót Baumhorn in Novi Sad and Szeged

Two exhibitions presenting the history of the Szeged and Novi Sad communities and synagogues will open on 3 and 4 April 2022

The exhibitions in the Szeged and Novi Sad synagogues are part of the exhibitions series commemorating the life and creation of Lipót Baumhorn, the most prolific architect of synagogues, on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of his birth. Baumhorn designed twenty-six synagogues of which twenty-two were erected on the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, in Budapest and in numerous provincial cities, such as Szeged, Novi Sad, Timișoara, Brașov, Rijeka, Lucenec, and Nitra.

The exhibitions are organized by the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center (https://memmdk.hu/en) in cooperation with the Jewish Communities of Szeged and Novi Sad. They present a selection from Baumhorn’s exceptional oeuvre, focusing on the New Synagogue in Szeged honoring its 120th jubilee.

The exhibitions also feature some rare archival material, such as construction plans and other documents, alongside breathtaking contemporary images of Baumhorn’s buildings by the photographer Krisztina Bélavári. For this occasion, the Jewish Community of Szeged had the richly embroidered ritual textiles restored as part of the New Synagogue’s accessories. The exhibition in Novi Sad will also focus on the synagogues built in Vojvodina and their communities, such as the faith of the communities of Novi Sad and Zrenjanin.

 

The exhibition is open to visitors:

3 April 2022 and 30 May 2022 at the Szeged New Synagogue (Jósika utca 10.) and

4 April 2022 and 7 June 2022 at the Novi Sad Synagogue (9 Jevrejska street).

 

Curators: Dr. Ágnes Ivett Oszkó, art historian of the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center, Dr. Dóra Pataricza, historian, director of the restoration project for the Jewish Community of Szeged and Dr. Olga Ungar, historian and art historian, Tikun, Novi Sad

 

Professional consultants: Vera Ábrahám, head of the Archives of the Szeged Jewish Community; Prof. Rudolf Klein, Head of Department, University of Óbuda Ybl Miklós Faculty of Architecture; Pál Ritoók, art historian, head of the Museum Department of the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center