The public is invited to the opening of the exhibition, titled “Levelet kaptam, lájf – We only use electronic communication” on 21 June at 5.00 p.m. at MODEM Project Space. The exhibition opening is part of the Night of Museums programme, so visitors need to buy an entrance ticket.

Nóra Juhász’s new project examines the authenticity of communication, the identity of museums and the disappearing world of letter culture through correspondence conducted on behalf of a fictitious postal museum. The multifaceted installation that starts from this reflects on the historical significance of the post office and the impersonality of the digital age as an ironic and emotional research. 

The title, “Levelet kaptam, lájf – We only use electronic communication”  of the exhibition strikingly summarises the basic idea of the project: the aesthetics of misunderstanding, deception and recoding. The first half of the title was born from a Hungarian mishearing of the 1984 hit by the band OPUS – an ironic, nostalgic meme that plays on the disappearance of letter culture.

The second half, on the other hand, is an official, mechanical response that a postal museum sent back to the artist’s questionnaire. The contrast between the two quotes vividly highlights the fault line that exists between personal, trusting relationships and digital, institutional communication, and which the exhibition sensitively thematises.

The project originally started as an unconventional performance, based on the traditions of mail-art and the practice of “catfishing” – that is, deceptive online identities. The artist, hiding behind a fictitious institutional role, contacted museums to map the boundaries of authentic communication and the fragility of trust in the digital age.

The exhibition will be opened and introduced by: artist Nóra Juhász, winner of the Modem Prize 2024, and Gábor Krisztián Török, curator of the exhibition.

Date: from 21 June 

Location:  MODEM Project Space

Source:modemart.hu |Photo credit: Debrecen Városa Facebook