Kalotaszeg is a region in Transylvania comprising around 40 villages with
Hungarian and Hungarian-Romanian mixed population, in the mountains that
separate the Transylvanian Basin from the Hungarian Great Plain.
In the second half of the 1800s it was in the villages of Kalotaszeg that folk
art flourished in some of the richest and most varied forms such as costume,
painted furniture, woodcarving, embroidery, and weaving. They also produced
many minor objects, vocal and instrumental music, dance, and festive customs
which were all inter-related.
In spite of flourishing folk arts, the people of Kalotaszeg (especially
those in the villages high up in the mountains) were very poor. Both men and
women were forced to seek work elsewhere such as seasonal harvest workers on
the Hungarian Great Plain. This is why embroidery and carving done for
sale became a way of earning an extra living first in Kalotszeg. These types of arts
and crafts are still done for resale outside the region and many people in the
region keep a room in the upstairs of their house full of embroidered and
other decorated items to be shown and sold to anyone who might be interested.
(such as tourists passing through)
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