PURO Art Guide: Budapest

The national galleries and museums are brimming with treasures of nineteenth-century painting from the glory days of the Hapsburgs. Budapest is also a lesser-known center for contemporary art. Despite the “Orbanization of culture,” which has led to limits on funds and freedom of expression for artists opposed to the Fidesz government, the arts scene remains vibrant and interesting. Most of the progressive events are held outside the institutions and the monumental museum buildings. To find them, you have to climb the staircases of apartment buildings, hunt down addresses of private galleries, journey outside the city, and sometimes visit even more underground places. Having a guide is definitely worthwhile, and I will try to point you in the right direction here.

Easttopics

My guide to the local art scene is often the East Topics platform, whose headquarters is in Budapest, but is active throughout Eastern Europe, above all on the Internet. They publish very interesting interviews and document exhibitions in the region. Moreover, they offer access to a library and a residency program at their home base. The Easttopics Gallery exhibition space has also recently opened near the Hungarian National Museum, where many galleries and auction houses are located. Easttopics has also co-created the Secondary Archives platform, focusing on female artists from Eastern Europe.

Q Contemporary

Q Contemporary is the first private museum in Budapest, funded by an art collector from Hong Kong, Queenie Rosita Law. Its program focuses on artists from Eastern and Central Europe whose work enters a dialogue with the post-transformation reality and the history of the region. The collection orbits around artists from the latter half of the twentieth century to the present, from a region which has long been unjustifiably sidelined in the art world. Apart from the collection, the museum presents temporary exhibitions by artists of the younger generation. This perfect white cube has featured work by Zsófia Keresztes, who is presently being shown in the Hungarian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Polish abstract artist Natalia Załuska, and one of my favorite Czech artists, Klára Hosnedlová. The museum is in a Classicist villa surrounded by a garden on the grand Andrássy Avenue, which joins Elizabeth Square (Erzsebet ter) with Heroes’ Square (Hosok tere), and has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

art quarter budapest

To visit art quarter budapest you need to travel to the south side of the city, leaving downtown. Right there on the Danube you’ll find a great, post-industrial brick building, formerly a brewery, which, in 2004 was remodeled into a contemporary art center and a place for international artist residencies. Its exhibition space is called the aqb PROJECT SPACE; a range of group exhibitions have been held here.

Budapest’s Private Galleries

Like many other European capitals, Budapest has its celebration of private galleries, Budapest Gallery Weekend, which generally takes place in the fall. In recent years, however, because of the pandemic, it was carried over into the spring months. Its future in 2022 is rather unsure, because the event has received no public funding. It is always worth checking out its web page, however, to see what galleries are in town. One of them is Glassyard Gallery. This is the most active private gallery on the Hungarian market. It regularly participates in international fairs, represents artists, and has many contacts abroad. It was founded by Barnabás Bencsik, former director of the Ludwig Museum, in 2017. It represents artists including Szilva Bolla, one of the most interesting photographers and installation artists of the younger generation. Not far away is acb gallery, founded in 2006. It has a two-tier program. On the one hand, it focuses on the classics of the Hungarian neo-avant-garde, such as: Hopp-Halasz Károly, Nádor Katalint, and Pinczehelyi Sándor. On the other, it presents the best in contemporary art, organizing exhibitions by such artists as Marton Nemes and Andrea Éva Győri. Since 2016, the gallery has had three spaces, where parallel exhibitions are held. Among the private galleries you should also have a look at the small space run by Tomasz Piars, an art historian, artist, and diplomat who spent years running a contemporary art gallery through the Polish Institute in Budapest. He has presently set up Art Salon Contemporary in his apartment, where he keeps up an intriguing program that includes Polish contemporary art. The gallery is not easy to find, as it is located on the top floor of an Art Nouveau building. It organizes openings and meetings with artists. To visit this place and meet a local art expert, you need to set up an individual appointment and write to the gallery on its Facebook page. It’s really worth it!

The Classics: The Ludwig Muzeum

The Ludwig Muzeum is on the Pest side, in the Palace of Art (Müpa). Its program is strictly focused on contemporary international and Hungarian art. The collection is centered on a donation in 1989 from Peter and Irene Ludwig, controversial German patrons of the arts, who founded a total of twelve museums around Europe, mainly in Germany. The institution is in a massive, functional concrete building with large windows designed by Zoboki, Demeter and Associates studio. Its collection contains many works of international contemporary art, including pop-art and Hungarian avant-garde. It organizes around ten temporary exhibitions annually. It is also responsible for organizing the Hungarian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, where this year we had a chance to admire the sculpture of millennial  artist Zsófia Keresztes. The exhibition program changed a bit with Orban coming to power; the most progressive curators, such as Nikolett Eross, have left the museum. Yet I can still recommend visiting this place for its remarkable architecture, its variegated exhibitions of its collection, and its pleasant coffee shop.

Off Biennale

The above-mentioned Nikolett Eros is one of the organizers behind Hungary’s largest grass-roots art event, Off Biennale, which has been operating since 2015 and joins various organizations, private galleries, and artist-run spaces for one big event. The organization basically does not apply for government money and supports itself through the work and contributions of those involved. It is also a kind of testing ground for independent Hungarian culture. The “off” in the name is meant to be a critique of the large biennials, the international events with the famous names and big productions. Off Biennale focuses on the local, avoids the mainstream, creating less hierarchical structures, like a rhizome unfolding in an underground city. This year, Off Biennale was also invited to documenta 15 in Kassel, where it presented the “RomaMoMA” (Roma Museum of Contemporary Art) project, featuring art by the Romani minority.

Cafes: Szimpla Kert and New York Cafe

After visiting some galleries, take a stroll to the Jewish district, right in the heart of Budapest. Not only to see the beautiful preserved synagogues and buildings, but also to wander about the charming streets, to find a few galleries and clubs. This place is also known for its great secondhand shops, where vintage styles reign. You can pick up some brand-name clothes from the eighties, nineties, and hip noughts. Strolling the Jewish district, you can’t miss the entrance to Kazinczy alley, where you’ll find a pearl of underground Budapest, Szimpla Kert. This is a complex of several interconnected buildings and courtyards, making a labyrinth of bars, cafes, and clubs. It is often called “bars in ruins.” The cracked and crumbling walls of the buildings, which still recall the days of the ghetto, have been adapted by DIY artists. Inside, apart from the graffiti and stickers, you’ll find installations made of trash, and vintage communist furniture. These places often have no windows or doors, one place chaotically bleeds into another. The “scribbled” walls make a palimpsest of works by artists and regulars alike. Anyone can make their mark on the walls. Everything is a bit crumbling, but that’s what makes the atmosphere so special. Between the bars is a space with food trucks offering meals from all over the world.

From the graffiti and sticker filled lanes you can then move on to a grander sort of place, where you can feel the spirit of history and the old monarchy. Cafe New York is a remarkable establishment, known all across the world. It was opened in 1894, and has hosted many famous names.

It differs in just about every way from the cafes in Szimpla Kert. It should come as no surprise that is has been called “the most beautiful cafe in the world.” Its interiors are all covered in frescoes, stucco art, and gold décor. The high ceiling, crystal chandeliers, and wall lamps make it incredibly bright and sparkling. True Hungarian elegance!

Author: Michalina Sablik