Craft fair entry #1

[wiseheart]

There will be more, as I can't stuff 35 photos into a single entry. Those of you who are impatient to see everything right now can check out my newly created Pinterest board.

So, we made it to the fair, despite the insane heat an the traffic problems. It took place in Buda Castle, which isn't easy to reach unless you are willing to climb several hundred stairs up the Castle Hill - we opted for the Castle Bus. Unfortunately, we couldn't catch it at the usual stop because the kays are closed due to the upcoming national holiday (tomorrow), when there will be fireworks. Those are put in place several days earlier. Fantastic timing from the organizers of the fair. [/sarcasm]

In any case, it took us three times as long to get to the Castle Hill as it would take otherwise, and the fact that the Hill is paved with those old-fashioned square stones that aren't fully put into the earth but build a very uneven surface didn't make things easier for Mum. Poor thing was done in by the time we arrived at the fair site. I had a t-shirt with a V-neck in, the neck constantly pulled to the side by my shoulder bag - now I have a bizarrely shaped sunburn on the upper part of my chest. Really bizarre.

Anyway, the fair itself was very interesting. A great many craftsmen and craftswomen were present, from various parts of the country and even from Transylvania, and there were rug-makers and felt workers from Uzbekistan, calligraphers from China and Japan (supposedly, as the only thing I found was the Chinese tea tent) and so on. I couldn't really explore as I'd have preferred because of Mum - the stupid thing was that there weren't any chances to sit down with a coffee or some soft drink. There was practically no food, likely because a food fair was going on in some other part of the Castle. Ah, well, we went to Stühmer's Café afterwards and had iced coffee.

The main focus was this time on wood carving, pottery, felt work and textile works. In this first section I'll show you photos about the felt tents and their surprisingly sophisticated inside. Some of the photos aren't very good - it was hard to take photos at all, because of the crowd and the harsh sunshine, but I'm fairly content how they turned out.



Felt tent on the outside (unfortunately, the lady couldn't be arsed to move out of the picture):



Wall hangings in the inside of the tent:



Round felt rug on the floor and some small wooden stools:



More wall hangings:



Pictures showing the ceiling structure of the tent and what it looks in its entirety (without rude ladies damaging the sight):



Another felt tent from the inside - note the elaborate furniture:



Clothes trunk (I apologize for the bright spot in the middle - I was taking the photo from the bright outside through a small entrance, and the inside of the tent was comparatively dark):



Where the rest of the clothes hung:



Another tent - and another rude lady:



This tent was smaller than the others and had only room for the bedrolls:




So much for today, there are a lot more pictures to come yet. As always, click to enlarge.

Comments

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

I love the rugs and textiles.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They look fantastic, don't they? And they're all felted, every single one of them! I have no idea how they do it. I did a bit of needle felting at school (I mean the school where I worked last), but that's all about it - and I did really amateurish work.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

What amazing hangings.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

My mouth was literally hanging open.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Neat.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Isn't it?

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

There look to be some lovely things there.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

There are indeed. More pics coming up.

[meathiel]

Those look quite unique and I can't imagine how they were produced?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Some of the artisans showed the work in process and even allowed visitors to try the technique. Only on a much smaller scale, of course.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I love the designs and the coloring. Were they selling the work as well, or is this just an expo?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They were selling it all right, but the prices were well beyond my purse.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I slept in one of those sort of tents in Uzbekistan, but alas it didn't have any such fine feltwork!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, these were from the various parts of Hungary - although rug-makers from Uzbekistan were present at the fair.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that, is there a felty tradition? I'm intrigued.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, our ancestors used to be a semi-nomadic people of horse-breeders and apparently lived in such tents before settling in Europe. Afterwards only the guys who went out to the grazing fields with the animals used them, it is said. (Sorry, I just can't remember how to say Hirte in English.)

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

The tents, the rugs, the felting are all beautiful - such wonderful colours and design! Thank you for sharing the pictures. How exciting to have such fairs close by.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome. It was exciting indeed, although these fairs don't take place very frequently. I think it was my second one altogether, and the first one was decades ago, a very small one. I always fail to notice when and where they happen and miss them, as a rule.