In my thesis I explore how the perception of the permanent exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum has evolved and what this exhibition, completely unchanged for 27 years, reveals about our concept of nation. My aim is to examine the transformation of the identity concepts it represents. How can this seemingly immovable view of history be captured? What is it based on? Can we relate to it in the present day? I believe that the permanent exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum as a place of identity creation has hollowed out and instead of fostering discourse it has been driving out other narratives, and as a result it has been disconnected from the developments in social sciences, museology, ethnography and curatorial practice in recent decades. I intend to describe these processes through presenting an interdisciplinary review of literature and the detailed analysis of specific displays in the permanent exhibition.