Reprezentarea vizuală a Transilvaniei în afișe turistice din 1941
Visual representation of Transylvania in travel posters from 1941

Summary/Abstract: The main purpose of this article is to analyse the visual representation of Transylvania in travel posters from 1941. After the Second Vienna Award, Northern Transylvania was reassigned from Romania to Hungary. In order to reintegrate efficiently the territory, a plan was released to modernize tourism, therefore the need of promoting Transylvania has increased. In the autumn of 1940 a competition was announced: artists were invited to create artistic travel posters to promote this region. A jury selected and rewarded the best pieces, which were presented on an exhibition. The competition had a great success, yet we know only a few works today. The exhibition catalogue enumerates 21 posters, 2 of which can be found in the National Széchenyi Library (Budapest) and 11 are reproduced in black and white on the pages of the Magyar Iparművészet (Hungarian Applied Arts). In the Hungarian National Museum exists a collection of 16 poster projects 14 of which were created for this competition. The posters show an image of Transylvania rooting in the past: a territory of peace, where the folk arts are still alive, the Hungarian language and culture is preserved in their original purity, the people are deeply religious and they live in perfect harmony with the nature. Ethnographic tradition is mostly represented by the traditional costumes and characteristic churches of the Călata region. The mountains also constitute a very important visual element, since they carry a real touristic potential. Although the posters and the poster projects may seem similar, there is a major difference between them: in the plans we can find concrete, existing touristic objectives (for example the Bicaz Gorge or the Căliman Mountains), but the exhibited poster show a more general image of Transylvania, which can evoke nostalgia, therefore inspire the people to travel.

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