The new institute for universal Hungarian culture will represent Hungarian culture outside of the country?s borders, Hiller told a press conference after the annual meeting of the heads of Hungary?s cultural institutes abroad. At Hiller?s side at the press conference was Katalin Bogyay, the undersecretary at the ministry in charge of international affairs.
The institute will be headed by Éva Lauter, Hiller said. Mrs. Miklós Csapody, the head of the Department of Hungarian Cultural Institutes Abroad, will take up a post at the ministry, he added.
Hiller said it is unlikely any more Hungarian cultural institutes abroad will open in the near future because of a lack of funding. The ministry operates with an annual budget of HUF 550-600 billion, of which about HUF 100 billion is available for culture. This budget is unlikely to change over the next several years, he added. Although this should allow the cultural institutes to remain as active as before, they are in need of new means of financing, from national sources as well as from multinational sources in Hungary.
Despite an unchanged budget, an official could still be hired to organise Hungarian cultural events in China, Hiller said. However, the reality of setting up a cultural centre in Israel, as planned earlier, must be reconsidered, although the intention remains.
Hiller noted that the Hungarian institute in Warsaw is scheduled to move to a new location before the end of the year, and the renovation of the Hungarian Academy in Rome is nearing completion. The Sepsiszentgyörgy centre of Hungary?s cultural institute in Bucharest will start operating in October or November, and Berlin?s Collegium Hungaricum will be opened in late 2007.
All Hungary?s culture institutes abroad will focus on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in autumn. In New York?s Times Square, two giant posters commemorating the event will be displayed from early September. New York will be the home to a Hungarian Cultural Season in 2009, Hiller added.
Hiller said he wished to form closer ties with Hungary?s Foreign Ministry, and for this reason he invited Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz to the meeting of directors of Hungary?s culture institutes abroad.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
