The Budapest Photo Festival launches into its fourth year as the largest event of its kind in the region, staging exhibitions across town, from major national institutions to small private galleries. Shows dovetail through March and April.
The main theme of Budapest Photo Festival 2020 is collective and individual memory, which mixes nostalgia and reality. Taking place city-wide, the festival officially opened on 28 February with a series of special events at the Műcsarnok.
The opening show, Paolo VENTURA: A Venetian Story – The Automaton, is a beautifully depressing fairytale set in Venice during World War II. The protagonist is an elderly Jewish watchmaker living in the Venice ghetto in 1943, one of the darkest periods of Nazi occupation and Fascist rule. The old man decides to build a little robot boy to keep him company (the ‘Automaton’) as he waits for the inevitable arrival of the authorities. The exhibition runs until 7 June.
At the Kiscelli Museum in Óbuda, the human form is the subject of the series BODY PICTURE – Nude in Contemporary Hungarian Photography. The nude has been a staple in art since time immemorial, but that doesn’t keep it from being a sensitive topic today! The exhibition aims to highlight the representation of the body in our society, and examine its richness and contradictions. Doors open from 3 April to 31 May.
The Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center will be exhibiting The Rhythm of Light show by the late Thomaz Farkas, until 5 April. Born in Hungary and considered one of the greatest representatives of modern photography and documentary cinema in Brazil, Farkas left a unique artistic contribution, a reflection of his dynamic, intense character.
A strange and playful mix of reality and fiction is at the heart of the works by three young, Eastern-European photographers comprising The Edge of Fiction. Images by Weronika Gęsicka, Bára Prášilová and Maria Svarboda are nuanced by overtones of nostalgia, and yet feel personal and relevant at the same time. They will be on display at the Deák 17 Gallery from 3 March until 4 April.
Tina Modotti was a multifaceted artist whose career was marked by her revolutionary spirit. She moved from Italy to Mexico in 1923, and captured daily, rural Mexican life through the lens of her camera. Mixed in with powerful portraits are themes of social criticism. The exhibition Tina MODOTTI: Spirit, Revolution and Lens. An Italian Photographer in Mexico is on show at the Italian Institute by the National Museum from 13 March to 17 April.
For the second year running, the Budapest Photo Festival and Hybridart have created an open call for photographers under 35, titling the exhibition FRESH MEAT. The very best of young contemporary Hungarian photographers will be showcased, with no genre restrictions. Curators focused on originality and unconventional approaches, displayed at the Hybridart gallery on Galamb utca between 10-31 March.
At the Petőfi Literary Museum, a special exhibition opens 6 April to commemorate the late poet, writer and translator Dezső Tandori, captured by the Hungarian photographer Lenke Szilágyi. The connection between literature and photography is explored in this moving show, which touches on themes of experimentalism, fantasy, humour and the awe-inspiring energy required for creation. The exhibition runs until 10 May.
For more information, check out the festival website, which lists all the upcoming exhibition dates and locations. Additional details can be found on the Facebook page.
