Tamás Kaszás: Savage Intern

The TÓTalJOY Prize was established by the Museum of Fine Art’s Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI), with the generous support of Endre Tót.

In 2021, a project by Tamás Kaszás was selected as the winning entry by the six-member Hungarian and international jury. Applications that reflected on changing cultural contexts and contemporary dilemmas in relation to the archives and ethos of the KEMKI - Artpool Art Research Center were given preference during the evaluation process. 

Artpool boasts an unrivalled collection, comprising mainly documents from the underground fine arts, music, literature, and experimental film culture as well as from the international mail-art movement. Kaszás's research is linked to Artpool's experimental spirit: the artist, in collaboration with Artpool staff, has worked with the collection, transcending the classical conceptual frameworks and theories of archives by using the tools of contemporary art. The artist's unique perspective has made it possible to present a selection from the archive in which the individual items were not chosen according to any scholarly or aesthetic considerations but reflecting the interest of an intuitively wandering mind, bringing into the open interrelationships that would otherwise have remained concealed.

Hungarian National Gallery Buda Castle Palace, Building D I.
On view from 3 March to 11 June 2023.

Curator: Brigitta ÁDI

Consultants: Dávid FEHÉR, Emese KÜRTI

Research assistant: Viktor KOTUN

The call for the TÓTalJOY Prize 2023 is available on our website.