A discussion between Barnabás Bencsik, former Director of the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2008-2013), artist Csaba Nemes, Art Faculty of PTE, Pécs, Hungary, and independent curator Zsuzsanna Stánitz.

Calvert 22’s core research strand, Archive as Strategy: Conversations about Self-historicisation Across the East, continues with an event examining the ways in which the current political situation in Hungary is affecting its cultural landscape.

Recent legislative steps in Hungary point towards an authoritarian transformation of institutional structures and cultural funding, which is profoundly affecting the art scene. The long-term autonomy, professionalism and democratic procedures of Hungarian contemporary art have been endangered and put into question.

Barnabás Bencsik, former Director of the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2008-2013), will discuss these recent events from an institutional point of view. He will be in conversation with artist Csaba Nemes, from the Art Faculty of PTE, Pécs, Hungary, who has been instrumental in the formation of the group no-MMA, which calls for the freedom of the arts and greater transparency of dialogue around decisions initiated by the Hungarian Cultural Ministry.

The event is part of the series Archive as Strategy: Conversations about Self-historicisation Across the East and has been organised by Lina Džuverović, Artistic Director of Calvert 22 and independent curator Zsuzsanna Stánitz.