The ARC exhibition is held every year since 2000 in order to show that billboards, which are usually used for advertisements, can carry social messages as well.
As in past years, the 2014 ARC exhibition is held in Ötvenhatosok Square, where a giant statue of Stalin stood until it was toppled in Hungary's 1956 Revolution; today a new monument to the '56 freedom fighters stands here in its place, making this an apropos venue for free speech.
This year’s event is held under the unifying theme “What do you believe in?”, and in most cases – following the tradition of previous years – the subject of slightly forced social reflections were politicians, the economy, Conchita Wurst, and so on.
Surprisingly, we see very few works about the situation in Ukraine, Putin, or the actions of ISIS in the Middle East. However, the insane amount of works about the prime minister and the government make up for this, as well as works about censorship and the freedom of self-expression and the press.
This year’s event drew 1,108 entries, of which 84 pictures are displayed on billboards, and a further 27 on so-called "collector posters" amid Ötvenhatosok Square until September 21.
The winning entry of the ARC exhibition is the work of Macskabajusz Művek, titled "Equality, fraternity, public procurement", depicting an asymmetrical football field; the second-place prize belongs to the poster titled "Hungarian in Europe", made by Milán Herr; and the third-place honors were earned by the work of Géza Halász, titled "Rush hour".
In addition, some special prizes were awarded: the Badger Award was conferred to the cheekiest work, the poster titled "I believe in...", by Magdolna Szinovszki and László Szamosi; the ARC+ award of HVG was given to Dávid Gutema for his work titled "Russian puppet"; and Hammer Advertising determined that the most original idea was in the poster by Ádám Faniszló, titled "Freedom".
