The textile-maker Debreczeni family

The Debreczeni family’s life has been revolving around textiles for almost 56 years: they have been making folk textiles and keeping them going as clothing. János Debreczeni, the head of the family was the frst to become familiar with hand weaving as a child. His wife, Livia, was trained as a ladies’ dressmaker. Over the years they started their own family business, in which they were joined by their daughter Klára. All three are members of the Békés County Folk Art Association. They draw inspiration for their work from folk culture, especially from the tri-national (Hungarian, German and Slovak) weaving and costume culture of their home town of Mezőberény. In addition to making folk textiles, the family business also aims to keep the craf of weaving alive. János and Klára have been running the association’s weaving courses for many years.

The family members have received numerous awards and lots of recognition for their creative work. Applied folk artist János Debreczeni received the Award for Folk Art of Békés County (2008), the Golden Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (2009), the title Master of Folk Art (2012), the Király Zsiga Award (2015), the award “For the Culture of Mezőberény” (2015), several times the Pomegranate Award and the Masterpiece of Hungarian Crafsmanship award (2010-2016), the Gold Medal of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2016) and the Master of the Year Award (2017). The awards of his wife Lívia Ábelovszki include: the award “For the Folk Art of Békés County” (2008), the Masterpiece of Hungarian Crafsmanship award (2016), the Tree of Life Award (2021). Applied folk artist Klára Debreczeni has received the Young Master of the Year Award (2019), the Personality of the Future Award (2019) and the awards “For the Culture of Mezőberény” and “For the National Ethnic Culture of Mezőberény”.

They are regularly featured in national exhibitions. In the last couple of years, their works have been exhibited at the 1st National Folk Art Salon, the National Folk Art Exhibition, the exhibition Wealth of Life of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, and at the national textile competitions.

www.berenyitextil.hu