Compared to the other two departments of the Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI), the Research Department was established at the inception of the institution in 2021 and represents a programme that is in line with the current academic discourse and unfolds in close cooperation with the – historical and collection-related – work conducted at ADK and Artpool. The Research Department, which operates on a project basis and initiates multiannual research projects, focuses primarily on the art of the second half of the 20th  century. The interdisciplinary research, which considers the shortcomings of the Hungarian art-historical literature, showcases a local focus and a transregional and international historical-theoretical framework. Accordingly, our researchers involved in the projects – who are themselves promising or well-established academic actors in the realm of international discourses – initiate internationally relevant research projects capable of addressing the public and providing new perspectives.

 The major projects to be launched in 2022 will focus on the complex reconceptualisation of art in the 1980s, the politics embedded into the domain of exhibitions and culture during the Cold War era, and the investigation of artistic phenomena related to the Holocaust. The Research Department will seek close cooperation with local and international research institutions and museums, both at the working group and institutional levels, including small-scale collaborations and a multi-year historical research project on the topic of the Avant-Garde launched in collaboration with Kassák Museum. The partial results of the long-term research programmes will be presented in workshops, as well as national and international conferences. At the same time, the conclusions will become integrated into large-scale exhibitions and research paper anthologies that will significantly contribute to the region's art-historical literature.