Debrecen4U May 30, 2025

Exhibition opened at the New Town Hall

The inaugural programme series of the Debrecen Regional Working Group of the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA) takes place in Debrecen between May 23 and June 20, 2025. One of the main programmes is the inaugural exhibition of academicians, public body members and MMA scholarship holders associated with the eastern region and engaged in creative arts activities (fine, applied and folk artists), which was opened on May 29, 2025, in the New Town Hall Gallery.

The entire programme series was titled “KIKELET” (springtime), referring to both the region and the spring renewal. During the four weeks of the event series, literary, musical, theatrical, dance and architectural programmes and performances will also be organised at various locations. The programme, subtitled “Artistic and Art Theory Showcase” for the Northern Great Plain Region, Partium and Transcarpathia, presents the artistic achievements of the region in a broader sense, also strengthening the local presence of MMA.

They can further deepen their practical cooperation with the institutions providing the venues for the programmes. Among these, the Municipality of Debrecen stands out, as well as the University of Debrecen, including the Faculty of Music, and those art institutions and organisations to which their working group members are also connected in their daily work.

At the opening of the exhibition, Deputy Mayor István Puskás recalled that this exhibition space was created in the New Town Hall a few years ago to serve as a direct meeting point between citizens, the city, the culture, and the local identity.

“This current exhibition fits perfectly into this series, since three very important basic elements of Debrecen are present at the same time in this small exhibition,” he emphasised. The deputy mayor added that the Debrecen community has a centuries-old tradition of building on its past, not to lock tradition up in museums and libraries, but to keep it alive, ensuring that it can be passed on to future generations. It is the element of the local identity that weaves the city into the life of the region and how it weaves the two into a broader context, namely that of national culture. He added that the exhibition will showcase how these three distinctly Debrecen values are also reflected in the work of the Hungarian Academy of Arts working group here.

Mihály Vetró, a full member of the MMA and the president of the Debrecen Regional Working Group, stated during the exhibition’s opening that Hungarian art is a celebration of the Hungarian people. The task of the Hungarian Academy of Arts is to promote the promotion and protection of the values ​​of Hungarian and universal culture, respect for the traditions of Hungarian artistic life, and the birth of new, valuable works.

“We, in the Debrecen Regional Working Group of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, believe in the community-building power of art. This group, operating on a territorial principle, really provides a good opportunity for cooperation between the branches of art, for a comprehensive artistic creation,” he underlined. He noted that the exhibition on display in the New Town Hall Gallery is the first joint presentation of the artists of the Debrecen regional working group of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

The exhibition can be viewed until June 16, 2025, during the New Town Hall’s regular opening hours.

The artists featured in the exhibition:

FERENC FAZEKAS

• Potter, folk applied artist, master of folk art
• Member of the MMA public body
• Nádudvar

LAJOS FAZEKAS

• Potter, folk applied artist, master of folk art, awarded the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit
• Corresponding member of MMA
• Nádudvar

ANDRÁS GALÁNFI

• Kossuth Prize-winning folk artist, performer
• Master of folk art
• Full member of MMA
• Hajdúszoboszló

IMRE HARANGOZÓ

• Ethnographer, knight of the Hungarian Order of Merit
• Full member of MMA
• Újkígyós

ERZSÉBET KELEMEN

• József Attila, a Prize-winning poet and literary historian
• Member of the MMA public body
• Debrecen

ÁPRÁDNÉ KISS

• Trimming and costume maker, folk applied artist
• Master of folk art
• Member of the MMA public body
• Debrecen

CSABA KOCSIS

• Photographer and performer awarded the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit
• Member of the MMA public body
• Berettyóújfalu

JÁNOS KOMISZÁR

• Painter being awarded the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit
• Member of the MMA public body
• Debrecen

PÉTER MATL

• Sculptor awarded the Middle Cross of the Order of the Hungarian Republic, winner of the Munkácsy Mihály Prize
• Member of the MMA public body
• Munkács

FERENC ÖTVÖS NAGY

• goldsmith and enamel artist awarded the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit
• member of the MMA public body
• Kecskemét/Debrecen

FERENC PORKOLÁB

• Folk mantle tailor and mantle overlay maker, folk applied artist, master of folk art
• Derecske

ERIKA RÁCZ

• Goldsmith and enamel artist, young master of folk art
• MMA scholarship holder
• Berettyóújfalu

GYÖRGY SZEMADÁM

• Munkácsy Mihály Award-winning painter, art writer, and worthy and excellent artist
• Full member of  MMA
• Budapest

BÉLA SZEPESSY

• Painter and graphic artist awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit
• University teacher
• Member of MMA public body
• Nyíregyháza

LÁSZLÓ VAJDA

• Blacksmith, folk applied artist,  master of folk art
• Full member of MMA
• Tiszaeszlár

LÁSZLÓ VAJDA Jr.

• Blacksmith, folk applied artist
• MMA scholarship holder
• Tiszaeszlár

MIHÁLY VETRÓ 

• Transylvania Zsuzsanna Award-winning folk artist, teacher, young master of folk art
• Full member of MMA
• Hajdúszoboszló

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu