 |
| Katalin Bogyay |
Katalin Bogyay, who is in charge of international relations at the Ministry of Education and Culture, said the delegation visited some of Hungary's most important cultural institutions and met with Hungarian artists who will participate in the Freedom, Love Hungarian cultural season in China, which starts in Beijing on September 2 and in Shanghai on September 4.
The aim of Hungary's cultural seasons is not simply to send artists to a country such as China for a nice evening performance, rather it is to promote the organic presence of Hungarian culture in the country after the guest performers have left by forging links between Hungarian artists and institutions and the artists and institutions where the cultural season takes place, Bogyay said.
Bogyay said that on her previous trip to China she was shown a number of new concert halls, opera houses, theatres and galleries, many of which had big gaps in their programmes, gaps which could be filled. She added that Hungarian and Chinese cultural relations have become closer than earlier anticipated, and now is the time to take advantage of this, as the competition is fierce.
While in Budapest, the delegation visited the Hungarian State Opera, the Budapest Operetta Theatre and the Palace of Arts. They met with Zsófia Zimányi, who heads the company that organises the Budapest Spring Festival and the Budapest Autumn Festival, and invited her to next year's Shanghai International Arts Festival, where Hungary will be the guest of honour. Zimányi, in turn, invited the director of the Shanghai festival to this year's Budapest Autumn Festival.
The delegation included members of the Shanghai Arts Alliance, who held talks on establishing better ties between Hungarian and Chinese artists through teacher and student exchanges.
The Chinese delegation arrived in Budapest after spending time in Prague. From Budapest, they travelled to Austria.
Bogyay added that Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller would announce in the coming week those chosen to be Hungary's new cultural attachés in Beijing and Shanghai. Cultural attachés in Belgrade, Zagreb and Tel Aviv will start their work by the end of the year.
Next year, applications could be invited to fill cultural attaché posts in Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
