Womenswear - “Church” dress created within the framework of the In Circulation: Romani Design project

The “Church” dress was created as part of the exhibition series In Circulation, launched by the Contemporary Design Department in 2018. According to the concept, the invited designer will select an object or ensemble of objects from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts, and will create a new design as inspired by the object(s). Our fifth invited artist in the series is Romani Design founded by Erika Varga and Helena Varga in 2010. The sisters chose a total of six art objects from the collections of the museum. It is not by chance that these are all devotional pictures depicting either the Virgin Mary or other female saints, which provided the inspiration for the designers to create six enchantingly richly patterned women’s garments and coordinated accessories (see also 2021.516.1-2.; 2021.517.1-2.; 2021.518.1-2.; 2021.519.1.; 2021.520.1.; 2021.521.1.; 2021.522.1.).

The dress evoking the robes of a Byzantine Empress carries the name Church, for which the designers applied the iconlike portraits of their mother and maternal grandmother into the pattern. The creators view both women as role-models, and as important points of alignment in the life of their family. Its title refers to the sanctity of the family, and to the bonds of the family and the ancestors, which also indicate the similarly sacred connection to religion. Praise to the Virgin Mary can be read in both Latin and Romani language in the gloria encircling their heads. With the digital design of the colourful flowers framing the face of their grandmother, the floral ornamentation of the museum’s devotional image depicting Saint Cecilia arrived at a new context.