Exhibition displays unique Hungarian style in art

The Innovative Designs Contemporary Hungarian Exhibition, which offers a glance at the finest examples of Hungarian art from the 1960s to the present day, was opened at the Hungarian Cultural Center in Istanbul. Displaying examples of Hungarian conceptual and avant garde art, the exhibition was opened with a ceremony overseen by Hendrich Balazs, Hungary's consul general to Istanbul.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) during the ceremony, Balazs said Turkish and Hungarian relations are very special and Hungarians feel at home when they are in Turkey. He said they want to share the recent past, present and future of Hungary with people around the world and claimed that his generation is trying to show Hungary's interesting and exciting face.

Stressing that they aim to guide young people through the events held at the Hungarian Cultural Center, Balazs continued: "Contemporary art is a movement that challenges everything. The artworks that are being displayed today belong to our recent past. All these works symbolize what happened in Hungary and its surroundings in the last 60 years. They are all borrowed from private collections. We want to show our Turkish friends dynamic artworks by Hungarian artists as well."

The director of the Hungarian Cultural Center, Gabor Fodor, informed AA that the center has been offering its services to art lovers since 2013 and they moved to their new building last year. Fodor says they want to promote Hungarian art more. "Since it is not a well-known movement in Turkey, we aim to show the traces of Mid-European traditions in Hungarian art. When 'Star Wars' hit theaters world-wide 40 years ago, movie posters were the same around the world. However, in Hungary, posters exclusively made by Hungarian artists were hung all over the country be

cause nothing from the West was allowed in Hungary as it was a closed political block back then. However, these restrictions helped Hungarian art to have its own identity."

Peter Saranszki, the curator of the exhibition, also offered insights and said the artworks displayed at the exhibition are the finest examples of Hungarian art. "This exhibition offers a glimpse at the masterpieces of Hungarian artistic style. Additionally, we put works by pioneer contemporary artists on display as well. All these artworks are the first works by the artists, who have created a new school of art in Hungary," Saranszki said.

"The Innovative Designs Contemporary Hungarian Exhibition" features a total of 34 artworks by 23 Hungarian artists including Gabor Attalai, Miklos Erdely Karoly Halasz, Ilona Keserü Ilona, Janos Sugar, Tamas Jovanovics and Peter Türk. The exhibition can be visited until Jan. 15, 2017.