While museums remain closed, Budapest’s smaller galleries continue to welcome those hungry for culture. We’ve collated five of the best exhibitions taking place this spring, all open for personal visits within certain pandemic measures.
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Budapest Photo Festival
The citywide Budapest Photo
Festival is holding its series again this year, until 21 May. Some of the
exhibitions can be viewed online, but several small galleries will also be opening
their doors to visitors. A varied programme includes In & Out at the KAS Gallery, which documents people with autism, the Ágnes Eperjesi exhibition at the acb Gallery (three visitors allowed at any one time), Fresh Meat, the latest
generation of contemporary Hungarian photographers displayed at the Hybrid Art
Space, and Bede Kincső’s Three Colours I Know in This World at the TOBE
Gallery, an exhibition inspired by Ceaușescu-era Romania. Several exhibitions
will be opening in late April or early May, so be sure to follow the festival’s
website for updates.
Until 21 May
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Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts
The works of Zsigmond
Kolozsváry – known abroad as Sigismund Kolos-Vary – are kept at major
international museums around the world, from the Musée National d’Art Moderne
in Paris to Israel, Algeria and the United States. In Hungary, some can be seen
at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Budapest and in the Janus Pannonius Museum
in Pécs. A new exhibition at the Kálmán Makláry tries to acquaint Hungarian
audiences with the artist’s various creative eras. More than 20 pieces, rich in
colour and form, provide an insight into an unparalleled oeuvre. The exhibition can be visited after registration, in
accordance with pandemic measures.
Until 30 April
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Kieselbach Gallery
Under the heading Colours,
Realism, Surprises, the Kieselbach’s spring exhibition fills a 480-page catalogue
with works available for sale. Pieces ranging from well-known classics to
young contemporaries can be taken home. Gallery staff will provide
prices in person. The images reflect the Kieselbach's own
selection principles, while the more contemporary art was compiled by Gábor
Pados, owner of the acb Gallery.
Until 10 May
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Várfok Gallery
The group exhibition Other
Lands Are To Come is the third one here born out of the current pandemic. The
title and theme were provided by Péter Ujházi's work of the same name, which is
one of more humorous works in the planetary series by this 80-year-old artist, jumps
in space taking place through intertwined, funnel-shaped channels. Just like in that
picture, different picturesque worlds and landscapes are connected in this exhibition.
The stormy, windswept foliage of photographer Péter Korniss, the thrilling
idylls of László Szotyory, inspired by Watteau, and memories of Françoise
Gilot's Eastern travels can all be found. The highlight is the fine,
lyrical work of Endre Rozsda, painted in Paris in 1959, which comes to Hungary
for the first time by way of a descendant of Napoleon’s brother. A maximum of ten
people may visit the exhibition space at any one time, wearing a mask and using
the hand sanitiser upon entering.
Until 22 May
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Várkert Bazár
One of the most exciting
exhibitions this spring is taking place outdoors, as one of Hungary’s most
famous poster designers, Géza Faragó, has his works displayed at the prestigious
Várkert Bazár. Faragó studied in Paris under the direction of famed Czech
painter Alphonse Mucha. After returning to Budapest, his theatrical and
commercial posters, press drawings and caricatures became popular from 1903 onwards.
His works evoke the exciting atmosphere of the cosmopolitan Hungarian metropolis
in the first decade of the 20th century, and these marvellous posters can be
viewed from now until the end of June. All tolled, 25 are on display, from the Metropolitan
Orpheum, the Holzer Fashion House, the Törley Champagne Factory, the Corvin Department Store and the Operetta Theatre’s Halló Amérika revue. On view at the Déli panoráma terasz.
Until 30 June
