Can said the CHB aims to become a part of Berlin's cultural life without losing its identity as a "Hungaricum" - a special object of Hungarian cultural.
"We're trying not to get on the horse the wrong way. Our starting point is not 'What co-production can we participate in?' but what programmes can we introduce that automatically create a co-operation between Berlin and us," Can said.
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| János Can Togay |
Can said he was especially proud of an exhibition by the sculptor, painter and conceptual artist Gyula Pauer that has generated enormous interest even before its opening. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany's most important newspapers, even plans a special supplement on the exhibition.
The CHB's invitation for concepts for a sound art exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of November 9, 1938, when the Nazis vandalized Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues all over Germany, drew 50 applications. The winning submission will be shown for a month from the anniversary date.
Also in the autumn, the CHB will host a conference on psychoanalysis in the former East Germany and Hungary before 1989. The conference's sponsor will be Kinga Göncz, Hungary's foreign minister and a psychiatrist herself.
The CHB is collecting documentation for an exhibition of meetings between Germans from the former GDR and the GFR on Hungary's Lake Balaton as well as for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009.
Can noted that the CHB's visitor numbers have tripled over the last several months. Part of the increase can be explained by the institute's new building, but it is also the result of the staff's own efforts, he said.
The CHB's biggest success so far has been its Moholy-Nagy Gallery, which has hosted a number of interesting exhibition. The institute's Ligeti Music Studio has also provided a venue for many remarkable concerts by artists such as János Másik and Andrea Rost.
Source. Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: Balassi Institute
