The living tradition of lace-making in Halas (2010)
The town of Kiskunhalas in south-central Hungary is home to the more than 100-year-old world-renowned tradition of Halas lace-making. Árpád Dékáni a young teacher and Mária Markovics a plain seamstress were the creators of the unique sewn lace-making technique in 1902.
The making of Halas lace is a painstakingly tedious, time-consuming process that is done exclusively by hand with exceptionally fine white thread, practically invisibly thin needles and meticulous dexterity and attention to detail. Only select initiated lace-makers were privy to the coveted technique, whose numbers varied over the years between 80-100 women and has since dwindled to a mere 11. The official trademark of this particular lace – found even on the smallest 2-3 cm lace articles - is the symbol of 3 fish superimposed upon each other.
Even today the original century-old distinctive patterns and motifs can still be seen on Halas lace and the original unique stitching techniques are unchanged. Halas lace remains a symbol of not only the inhabitants of Kiskunhalas, but a unique example of Hungarian handicrafts.
The responsible institution for the professional coordinating of the UNESCO Convention in Hungary:
Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hungarian Open Air Museum
