Szilasi Ágota, H.: Víz - fény-szín-tér. Stílusvariációk egy technikára. Egri Országos Akvarell Biennálé 1968-2004 a Dobó István Vármúzeum kortárs akvarell gyűjteménye (Eger, 2006)

and to a question which has been a matter of debate ever since, namely whether „the mediocrity of the Eger show is the result of the the state of the art itself, the institutional set-up of the exhibition, or both?" (R.Gy.) It is now clear that the problems encountered at the Eger Watercolour Biennials cannot be separated from the problems facing the Hungarian biennial system in general. „Serious problems are always encountered - and this is true of every single one of the Hungarian biennials - the fact was the best Hungarian practitioners weren't even represented, specifically the elder statesmen in their own chosen disciplines. It wasn't coincidental that their absence was accompanied by their differing ideas. " (László Lengyel) Consequently the list of modernist painters who failed to be represented in Eger- and thus failed to find a place in the contemporary collection at the Eger Castle Museum is indeed long: Pál Deim, Ilona Keserű, László Lakner, Dóra Mauer, István Nádler, Imre Bak absences which will be impossible to rectify.

Despite the negative aspects of the eighties Eger enjoyed the same artistic influences as those being felt elsewhere in Hungary. Alongside a state sponsored art devoid of content, enjoying the patronage of state programmes and institutions, emerged a fledgling neo avant-garde which briefly enjoyed the status of official art. This period coincided with an upturn in the fortunes of the biennials. Whether seen in terms of the asking prices, the increased interest being shown in the arts and the greater investment in museum art col lections this was considered to be a good time for the visual arts. An arrival of a „new breed" was detected by the critics of the time, who „with their ideas, their drive, made the realm of the watercolour a more exciting proposition, not however without causing certain tensions within the discipline. " (András Farkas)

This shift in emphasis could be strongly felt from a technical point of view in the nineties. However, in saying this it would be wrong to ignore the effect of the political changes when analysing the history of the biennial. During this period the first impression one gets is a feeling of openness and freedom. The ever more forthright individual statements, the impudence, the greater self-assurance, suggesting „I'm the one who decides", „it depends on what I want" and „it's about me". It is this attitude, and the sometimes downright shocking manifestations of personal independence, which

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