William Penn Life, 2009 (44. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2009-01-01 / 1. szám
Magyar Matters Hungary to the extreme A year of performances and exhibitions in New York City and Washington celebrates Hungary's contemporary arts and impact on American culture Throughout 2009, audiences in New York and Washington, D.C., will have an unprecedented opportunity to experience contemporary Hungarian culture through a broad spectrum of visual, literary and performing arts programming. This year-long festival, Extremely Hungary, will trace the roots of contemporary Hungarian culture and celebrate the innovations and artistic creations that Hungarians have made over the past century. Extremely Hungary also will highlight the enduring connections between America and Hungary, and the contributions that Hungarians and Hungarian-Americans have made to arts and culture—from the Bauhaus to Robert Capa, Casablanca to Béla Bartók. Festival programs at leading cultural institutions will both celebrate Hungary's rich turn of the century culture and also introduce contemporary Hungarian artists and performers, many of whom are renowned in Europe but not yet known in America. The festival reveals aspects of Hungary's thriving contemporary culture through concerts, exhibitions, opera, new plays, literary symposia, and even such whimsical events as a moustache contest. Organized by New York's Hungarian Cultural Center, Extremely Hungary will be held at premiere arts institutions throughout the two cities, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Jewish Museum, the Museum of Modem Art, International Center of Photography, and the 92nd Street Y in New York, and the National Gallery, Newseum and Library of Congress in D.C. Festival Programs and Events The diverse programming of Extremely Hungary features more than 40 events, ranging from exhibitions and performances to avantgarde installations and a modem reinterpretation of the traditional Austro-Hungarian opera ball. Alongside its cultural programming, Extremely Hungary will also address the impact of politics and of the fall of the Iron Curtain—2009 marks its 20th anniversary — with programs through the New York Public Library and PEN World Voices. "In the two decades since the fall of communism, Hungary has undergone a renaissance to reestablish itself as the Paris of the East, a moniker gained during the early 20th century when its cultural energy — the literary coffeehouses, the music of composers like Béla Bartók, the beginning of the Bauhaus—was practically unmatched in Europe," said László Jakab Orsós, the Director of the Hungarian Cultural Center of New York. "Extremely Hungary will present this new generation of artists to American audiences, many for the first time." The festival kicks off in January 2009 at Carnegie Hall with "Celebrating Hungary," a two-week concert series of Hungarian musicians and composers, featuring repertoire as diverse as Haydn's courtly masterworks and composer and performer György Kurtág's New York debut. During the winter, the International Center of Photography will present an exhibition of the recently rediscovered archive of legendary Hungarian photographer Martin Munkácsi as part of ICP's Year of Fashion. As staff photographer for Harpers BAZAAR in the '30s and '40s, Munkácsi blurred the lines between commercial and art photography with his stunning images of such icons as Katherine Hepburn, Jean Harlow and Joan Crawford. In the spring, The Jewish Museum will debut "Danube Exodus," an interactive multimedia installation of found footage by 2007 Erasmus Prize winner Péter Forgács. The installation traces two historic voyages on the Danube River: the first, the exodus of Jews escaping down the Danube in 1939, the second, a "reverse" exodus of Germans fleeing Soviets up the Danube one year later. In the fall, the Museum of Modem Art will present a film series on avant-garde contemporary Hungar16 William Penn Life, January 2009
