Women's accessories - "Romani Circle" necklace created within the framework of the In Circulation: Romani Design project

The "Romani Circle" necklace 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 2021.515.1.; 2021.516.1-2.; 2021.517.1-2.; 2021.518.1-2.; 2021.519.1.; 2021.520.1.; 2021.522.1.).

The golden medals of the necklace evoke antique coins. Portraits of Virgin Mary, the statue of the Csatka Madonna and inscriptions of enamel pendants that Roma have a predilection to wear decorate the golden circles. Religious Roma families arrive to Csatka, dressing the life-sized devotional statue of the Virgin in increasingly beautiful vestments with each hour. In the central medal of the necklace, the designers inserted a photo of their mother from her youth and a childhood portrait of Erika Varga symbolising the intimate relation between the Child and Mary. Stained glass window motifs in the background of the composition are familiar from an earlier Romani collection, Rebel Spirit.