Judit Angel:
IT’S UP TO US!*

Within the general atmosphere of political estrangement that characterizes post ’89 Hungarian society, civic activism has lately represented a hopeful alternative. It signals a qualitative turn in the local society, being ascribable both to the “mental transition” accompanying recent transformations of Central – East European countries and to the expansion of globalisation and neo-liberal economy, which give rise to various forms of resistance. The project deals with the topicality of this phenomenon within the local context and presents Hungarian artists / collaborative groups which have lasting contacts with the activist movement, that reflect on issues of civic participation and aim at initiating changes in the institutional structure of contemporary art in Hungary.

 The Manamana publication project initiated by artists in 2000 was one of the first media that introduced globalisation critical discourse in Hungary and succeeded in developing a network of people engaged in independent activities. Its on-line version is updated with a series of interviews concerning cultural policy as a tool in preventing cultural conflicts as well as the personal aspects of participation in collective creative action.

Big Hope (Miklós Erhardt & Dominic Hislop) presents the “Talking about Economy” video (2003), a series of Dunaújváros (Hungary) and Berlin interviews with people working in different economic domains. By empowering subjects to tell their own thoughts on economy and personal relationship to work, the project aims to challenge alienating assumptions such as that economy is a matter of

Tamás Kaszás & Viktor Kotun’s installation is an artist – activist collaborative work. A mixage between a Greek temple, a museum and an infoshop, the construction serves as a framework for an archive of visual icons from the history of activism as well as for highlighting moments from the activity of Centrum group, which belongs to the radical wing of Budapest activism.

Balázs Beöthy’s Vertical Shift deals with the cycling perspectives of the people living in the hilly region of Buda. The images of the video confront us with the troubled experience of the cyclist riding on a rampant road, while the narration of the artist, who himself is a devoted cyclist, proposes some radical alternatives.

The “Other Spaces” video by Sándor Bartha presents “Tűzraktár”, an independent cultural centre situated in an abandoned building in Budapest 9th district, where various artistic and civil endeavours meet in a productive way. Contrary to documentary methods making extensive use of textual information, this video aims to grasp the spirit of the place mainly through visual imagery.

Conceived with the intention to create a context for the exhibition, the “Between the Lines” video made by CAB (Curators’ Association Budapest)’s features a series of staged interviews with characteristic figures of the Hungarian art scene. It reflects in a critical way on issues of (self) perception and strategies of representation.
 
 
 

* The title of the exhibition has been borrowed from “It’s Up to Us”, a guide of citizen participation in public matters published by the Hungarian Association for Community Development in 2005.