Crisis or bloom? Debates on Art in the 1980s

What was the 1980s in Hungarian art? Was it the democratization of the art system or the beginning of its market transformation? Was it the decade of death or the institutionalization of the avant-garde? Was it the heyday of the underground or painting?

The 1980s are both far away and close to us: fewer and fewer key players are active, but despite the emerging research efforts on the art of the decade, we still do not have a clear understanding of it. This talk series aims to bring us one step closer to understanding the dynamics of the decade's cultural changes. The series is curated by Júliusz Huth and Kristóf Nagy in the framework of KEMKI's research project about the 1980s. 

The first discussion will focus on the exhibition system for the visual arts. With our guests, we are looking for answers to the following questions: How did decentralization and marketization of cultural institutions affect art? What could and could not be exhibited? What role did city and council galleries play in underground art of the period?

Conversation participants:

Gábor Andrási, art historian, director of the Óbuda Cellar Gallery in the period

Tamás Török, curator, staff member of the Budapest Gallery in the period

Tibor Várnagy, visual artist, head of the Liget Gallery in the period

Moderators: Júliusz Huth and Kristóf Nagy, KEMKI