From the Heart of Europe [antikvár]

Foreword Over the years, the National Museums of Scotland have acquired a reputation for putting on important exhibitions during the Edinburgh International Festival. The visual arts make a significant contribution to this world-famous Festival of music and drama. The Museums, whose collections are both comprehensive and international, have been able to provide visitors with opportunities to see exhibitions from many countries including the United States of America, Italy, Cyprus, the former Soviet Union and Japan. We are particularly pleased this year to host an exhibition from our sister institution in Budapest, thereby offering the people of Scotland and visitors to Edinburgh a glimpse of the diversity and range of Hungarian art and culture. In the 1840s, two Scottish engineers were responsible for the design and the construction of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge over the Danube, providing a permanent link between Buda and Pest, merging the two cities and affecting the subsequent development of Hungary. This suspension bridge was a work of art, a technological masterpiece and a symbol of unity. It is our hope that the newly-established connection between our two national museums and the showing of this exhibition in Edinburgh, will help to forge a cultural bridge between Hungary and Scotland leading to greater understanding and co-operation in the future. Mark Jones Director National Museums of Scotland