Art & Exhibitions

The new exhibition of the Museum of the Reformed College of Debrecen was opened under the title “Golden Glass to the form of Debrecen” on the 21st of June. The exhibition includes masterpieces by three members of the Büttösi family. In the 18th century, István Büttösi, a master jeweller, and his two sons György and István also worked for the church.  The ornate chalices and bread bowls are not decorations, but are still used for worship and communion. The unique and priceless 300-year-old creations of the Büttös goldsmiths are on display together for the first time. “Many of the works are on display in churches. Here, too, about forty objects come from forty congregations, and these congregations use these beautiful, centuries-old objects. They don't see them as artistic treasures, but as an instrument linked to the Lord Jesus, to their Christian faith," the museum's director Dávid Csorba says. Date:from 21 June Location: Museum of the Reformed College of Debrecen   Source: dehir.hu  

László Buka has been retired for some time now, but his creative spirit is undiminished. His next exhibition entitled "With Colour and Soul"  will be opened on the 22nd of June, as part of Night of Museums programmes. László Buka is a distinctive figure in the artistic and cultural life of Debrecen. He is known as a teacher who graduated in mathematics and drawing, but he is also an active painter, whose paintings are present in the world of organic culture, in the organic culture among others marked by the names of Sándor Makoldi and Gábor Pap. But also as a traditionalist, who keeps the tradition of “regölés” (magical, winter  greeting folk custom) alive, and who therefore received the county Prima award in 2008. The event will also be special because the exhibition will be opened by the artist's partner, pastor Zsuzsanna Bukáné Zakar with the collaboration of  Gergő Csorba, who is not only a musician and artist,but also a friend.   Date: 22 June- 6 September,  9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Location: in the Calvin János Gallery in the right-hand gallery of the Great Church Source:dehir.hu

“Bird bone wonders” joint exhibition of photographer and taxidermist opened in Debrecen showcasing exhibitors' love for nature. For many years, Professor Csaba Tóth directed the work of the Urology Clinic, and his medical work, surgeries, publications, books and lectures have made him renowned at home and abroad. The high standard of his medical work was matched by the high standard of his work as a photographer.  Several photo albums of his have been published and the photographer, who was awarded the László Holló Prize, has had solo photo exhibitions in many cities. Albert Krisztián from Karcag belongs to a completely different generation, who started working with preparation as an environmentalist and nature walker, and not with any success, as he is now the owner of the European championship title. The exhibition was  opened on the 21st of June  by Cultural Manager Viktor Csaba Kozák, The Monteverdi Choir of the University of Debrecen, conducted by Ildikó Takács and István Pazár, accompanied by István Pazár on piano. Date: 23 June-31 August Location: Elméleti Galéria (Theoretical Gallery)   Source:dehir.hu

András Máthé and his pictures will soon be on show in a new exhibition entitled  "A beautiful, ugly world 2024", opening on the 23rd of June at 11.00 a.m. at Új Galéria  in Széchenyi Street. It is difficult to imagine András Máthé without a camera, but when he walks around the world without one, he probably notices everything that could be the subject of a well-made photo. He recently received a major professional recognition by winning the main prize of the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA) at the XXIII Esztergom Photography Biennale. The photographer promises that there will be surprises in this exhibition, which will feature mostly works that have never been seen before. András Máthé's exhibition will be opened by painter István Subicz, with Emőke Balog and József Balog (vocals) and Eleonóra Majorosné Tóth (flute).  The exhibition is open daily from 1:00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m., except Mondays, until 10 July. Date:23 June - 10 July Location: Új Galéria Source: dehir.hu

Exhibition "Subjective" by photographer Éva Keleti was opened on the 27th of June at the Bényi Gallery of Kölcsey Centre. Photographer, photo editor, Kossuth, Béla Balázs and Prima Primissima Prize-winning artist Éva Keleti  was born on 18th of August 1931 in Budapest. Her work spanning more than 70 years is a significant part of Hungarian culture and national photographic history. Her pictures are both independent works and artistic cord documents. During this period, she made tens of thousands of photographs. She has had several solo exhibitions in Hungary and abroad. For decades she has held social positions in several professional photographic organisations and in the Hungarian Association of Journalists, of which she is honorary president. She is also responsible for the organisation of the Hungarian presentations of the World Press Photo exhibitions, and has curated numerous exhibitions, edited and co-edited dozens of books. The exhibition can be visited free of charge until the 8th of August during the opening hours of Kölcsey Centre, daily from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., and until 7.00 p.m. during evening events. Date: 28 June - 8 August Location: Kölcsey Centre (Debrecen, Hunyadi u. 1-3.) Source: fonixinfo.hu

The opening of the exhibition of visual artist László F. Mikó, with a reading, will take place in the Synagogue Gallery on Sunday, the 30th of June, from 5:00 p.m. Welcome speeches will be given by Deputy Mayor István Puskás, President of the Jewish Community of Debrecen Tamás Horovitz, and artist and curator of the Synagogue Gallery Eszter Láng,  The exhibition will be opened by editor-in-chief of Dehir Miklós Szénási.  The exhibition can be visited until the 15th of July by appointment at the Orthodox Synagogue of Pásti Street (Debrecen, 4 Pásti Street). Contact: debrecenizsidosag@gmail.com, +36 30 846 1703.   Date: 30 June - 15 July Location:Pásti Street Synagogue   Source: dehir.hu

This time graphic artist István Subicz will show his wooden works to the Debrecen audience via exhibition titled "The trees (also) tell a story". The artist, who is a rigorous creator and takes art seriously, believes that the nature and destiny of pictures is that they end up on a wall somewhere, and that people and viewers come into contact with them in some way. Photographer András Máthé will open the exhibition with  flute player Hanna Jantyik on Saturday the 13th of July at 5:00 p.m. at Új Galéria. Date: opening on the 13th of July Location: Új Galéria, 1 Széchenyi Street Source:dehir.hu

Mária Berhidi's retrospective exhibition, opening on the second floor of MODEM, aims to reveal the full extent of the late artist's somewhat hidden, sensitive and sensual conceptual-minimalist sculptural oeuvre, her personal and professional collaboration with fellow artists, and her influential work as an art organiser. Berhidi's art evolved from body torsos to quasi-geometric compositions using stone from quarries' waste.  She used materials like wood, textiles, metal, and found objects in installations. From 2007 for 15 years she was the artist curator of the Óbuda Society Gallery, promoting the youngest artists and presenting rarely published works. This influenced MODEM, which aimed to promote installation art and contemporary sculpture with individual voices. The exhibition will be opened by art historian Katalin Aknai on the 20th of July, at 4:00 p.m., with a welcome speech by Executive Director of MODEM, Kata Vizi,  followed by a curatorial guided tour with Szabolcs Süli-Zakar and Gábor Andrási. The event is free of charge. Exhibiting artist: Mária Berhidi  Contributing artists: András Cséfalvay, Ágnes Deli, Balázs Faa, Mariann Imre, Margit Koller, Endre Koronczi, Áron Kútvölgyi-Szabó, Ilona Lovas, Csilla Nagy, Sára Richter, Gábor Roskó, Ádám Szabó, Borbála Szanyi, Kamilla Szíj, Péter Türk, Ottó Vincze, Erzsébet Vojnich Curators: Szabolcs Süli-Zakar […]

Every edition of the Debrecen International Artist in Residence (DAIR) operating since 2006, is built around a theme. In addition to creation, the symposium’s workflow emphasises collective thinking reflected in the symposium’s programs, which are open to the public. This year’s theme is summed up with the question and suggestion as“Learning from Nature?” The focus of this year’s Artist in Residence program is on the broadly conceived discipline of botany. Many significant moments in the history of botany in Hungary can be traced back to the city of Debrecen, such as the Herbarium (1578), annotated by Péter Juhász Méliusz, considered the first herbarium in Hungarian, and the two-volume Hungarian Herbarium by Sámuel Diószegi and Mihály Fazekas, which, according to Linné’s system (Debrecen, 1807), is the first publication of modern Hungarian botany. In addition to creative and research work, this year’s DAIR will be enriched with lectures and discussions. The workshop will be held in the ground floor spaces of the MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Art and to build on this visibility during the program, for example, by opening the workspace to visitors for a short time in the afternoons. Following the early evening openings, interested visitors can meet […]

The opening of the Modem Modern and Contemporary Art Center's newest exhibition Family Stranger by Dutch-Polish photographer Wiosna van Bon awaits visitors on the 7th of August from 6.00 p.m. at Project Space. At the opening welcoming thoughts will be shared and a guided tour given by MODEM's Chief Curator Tamás Don. One of the important missions of Modem Project Space is to present young foreign artists to the Debrecen audience. The first step in this endeavour is the solo exhibition Family Stranger by Dutch-Polish photographer Wiosna van Bon. The photo series deals with families in which one of the members has been imprisoned. In a lyrical, abstract way, the artist presents the psychological processes that family members and prisoners potentially go through during their time in prison.  The pictures were taken in prison and in or around the homes of family members. They are complemented by various objects, mostly toys, which mostly refer to the parent-child relationship and the carefree world outside, as a counterpoint to the harshness of prison. The themes of silence, confinement and surveillance dominate the photographs, but the emergence of plants also suggests the hope of a new beginning. In addition to the pictures, the […]

After the MOMA in New York, the Sphere in Las Vegas and the Grammy Gala, Refik Anadol, who uses artificial intelligence as a paintbrush,  will present his works at the MODEM in Debrecen. “Refik Anadol, the star creator of contemporary art and ever-changing installations generated by artificial intelligence (AI), will exhibit for the first time in Hungary. In 2023, he transformed the Sphere in Las Vegas into the world's largest AI-generated artwork, while the artist's swirling, mesmerising light show was simultaneously admired by the audience of New York's MOMA for a year, and at the end of the year Anadol made the Grammy Gala unforgettable with his spectacular stage world,” according to MODEM's press release. This August, the video work of the acclaimed Turkish multimedia artist Rumi Dreams will visit Debrecen. Refik Anadol is a Turkish digital, new media artist based in Los Angeles since the early 2010s, a pioneer of AI art applications, a recipient of numerous international awards, and a leading figure in contemporary visual arts. His large-scale works have been presented in many places around the world, from airports to concert halls, from public squares to world-famous contemporary museums, from Charlotte, North Carolina, through the Venice Biennale, […]

The audience of Debrecen can soon meet the works of Father Miklós Zolcsák at the Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street wine bar, Egri Borozó where his exhibition will open this week, on the 8th of August  from 6:00 p.m. The exhibition consists of older and some new icon-paintings of Mary, the Crucifixion and St Nicholas, which together define the overall sacramental image of the Church. The Greek Catholic priest considers icon painting to be a sacred art form, viewing it as a divine act to depict saints. He has painted over 530 icons and currently has an exhibition in Debrecen featuring his work. He emphasises that iconography expresses the divine in human and physical form. For over 30 years, he has pursued icon painting as an art of faith, spirituality, and professional expertise. He believes that the younger generation is also interested in icon painting as a means of transcendence.   Date: 8 August Location: Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street wine bar, Egri Borozó Source:dehir.hu