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| Tamás Szalay |
The main phase of planning for the 2010 programme has already been closed, said cultural director for the European Capital of Culture project Tamás Szalay. "This means that we've practically used up HUF 1.85 billion," he added.
The funding - which comes from the local council, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the European Union - will go to support some 150 programmes, Szalay said. The programme will be finalised in the autumn, he added.
Szalay dismissed speculation that Pécs is behind schedule with its programme.
"We aren't behind at all," he said. "We're head on head [with Essen and Istanbul]."
Pécs's European Capital of Culture is for the long term, Szalay said. The city aims to transform its cultural landscape placing a focus on Southern Slavic cultures, Szalay said.
A special emphasis will be put on Pécs's decades-long reputation as a centre for the fine arts in 2010. An exhibition of work by the Bauhaus school will open in city during the year and will travel to Berlin later. Several of the Bauhaus movement's most renowned members were born in Pécs, among them Marcell Breuer, Andor Weininger and Alfréd Forbáth.
Szalay acknowledged the "vitally important" cooperation between the city and its partners in Essen and Istanbul. "If we want to ensure that Pécs becomes a visible city in Central Europe for the long term, we must try to cooperate with as many partners as possible," he said.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
