Information transfer in a scholarly exhibition: The Corvina Library and the Buda Workshop, Budapest, National Széchényi Library, 6 November 2018–10 February 2019

Abstract

From 6 November 2018 until 10 February 2019, the National Széchényi Library organized an exhibition of surviving items from the Bibliotheca Corviniana under the title The Corvina Library and the Buda Workshop. The exhibition, as its title suggests, focused on a single scholarly issue, the book production workshop established at the royal court. It showed how the purposeful process of library building (including the commissioning of books from Italy) was directed from Buda and which methods were used for the systematic development of the library. The exhibition had a monographic character and can be regarded the first survey of the subject. Therefore, the intention was to present not only the results of the research involved but also the process of reasoning and reaching the conclusions presented in the narrative. As a result, at the time of the exhibition and during its preparation, information transfer was happening at both cognitive and emotional levels. The nature of this information transfer was determined by the role certain pieces of information played in the story, depending on whether these were of primary or secondary character, explicitly communicated and centrally positioned, or used as a ‘supporting act’, making peripheral statements, acting as an emotionally charged but figurative account. Information was communicated explicitly through the detailed texts (object labels and summaries) and audiovisual displays accessible on screens, which demonstrated the process of research that went into the exhibition. The accompanying publications transmitted the main message on three levels. The exhibition, displaying 62 renaissance luxury codices, showed the power of homogeneity in a special way. The cultural and artistic aspect of the exhibition was exceptionally intensive, which enriched the visitors’ reception of it, creating a sense of completeness.