My name is Ilona Kollár Toldi, and I come for Kishegyes. I was born there, in 1937. I hold a certificate from the Hungarian Foklore Center of the Voivodina (Serbia) in folk embroidery and teaching embroidery, for courses completed at the Budapest training center for arts and crafts. For 13 years, I have been participating in the annual crafts camp of teachers from minority regions beyond Hungary’s borders, held every year in Zalaegerszeg-Gibárt. There, I have studied folk customs, crafts (weaving, embroidery, corn husk trinket making, gingerbread baking, egg painting, wood carving, pottery, felt-making, leather woring and making pearl ornaments). For many years, I have tutored a crafts group at the local elementary school. I lead many workshops, both in Kishegyes and throughout the Voivodina.
I am lucky to have had my work exhibited numerous times and I am proud to have received recognition in the form of awards and prizes. We participate every year at the Budapest Arts and Crafts Festival, appearing with the Folklore Center of the Voivodina. I count among my hobbies cooking, as well. Traditional dishes interest me the most, such as the chicken broth with liver dumplings, a wedding dish, and various doughs and pastries. Serbian Hungarians organize a festival every year, called Dombos Fest, where the fried flatbread we make with members of the local women´s association is always highly praised. But the most important honour of my life has been being named an honorary burgher of my native village in 2010.
