Hungary

Last Resort: The Hungarian Art on the Edge of Government Repression

Asztalos was selected in December 2012 by Mucsarnok – Kusthalle Budapest after an open call. In the meantime Mucsarnok has been placed under the control of the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA), a private association that now controls the bulk of cultural funding and fully adheres to the extreme-right, anti-LGBT, anti-Roma, and anti-Semitic, nationalist government. According to MMA director György Fekete members should have an “unambiguous national sentiment.” The director of Mucsarnok, who had selected Asztalos, resigned in protest. In 1940 Maróti Géza, designer of the Hungarian pavilion, wrote an 600-page as yet unpublished cultural history of Atlantis. Can the Hungarian pavilion, a remnant of the previous government, take a last stance in favor of such a utopian place before being pulled into the nationalist myth in the next Biennale?

Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei and Jonas Staal

http://venicebiennale2013.ideologicalguide.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/venetie_small_2x.jpg

Pavilion

Organizer/Commissioner:
Kunsthalle, Budapest
Artist:
Zsolt Asztalos
Curator:
Gabriella Uhl
Budget provided by the state:
Ft. 30,000,000 (€ 100,000)
Open Call?
Yes
Selection procedure:
Independent jury selection after an open call for proposals open to both artists and curators.

Curator

Name:
Gabriella Uhl
Gender:
Female
Born:
Hungary, 1970
Lives and works in:
Hungary
No. of participations in the venice biennale:
1

Artist

Name:
Zsolt Asztalos
Gender:
Male
Born:
Hungary, 1974
Lives and works in:
Hungary
No. of participations in the venice biennale:
1
Represented by galleries in:
Not represented by a gallery

Politics & Economics

State System:
Unitary parliamentary republic
Ruling Political Party:
Centre-right nationalist conservative party Fidesz
Population (World Bank, 2011):
9,971,727
GDP per capita (World Bank, 2011):
$14,043
Unemployment (World Bank, 2011):
10.9% of the labor force
World Bank credit:
$1,300,000
Net OECD ODA Aid Donated (2011):
$118,920,000
Military Expenditure (SIPRI, 2011):
$1,038,000,000

Alliances


Coalition of the Willing
World Bank debt
International Criminal Court recognized
NATO
OECD
Former Warsaw Pact
WTO

Conflicts

Country independent since:
1918 (from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy)
Last Major Border Revision:
1947 (Paris Peace Treaty)
International Court of Justice cases:
8
Global Militarization Index (BICC, 2011):
76
Nuclear Force?
No
Ongoing Conflicts and Disputes:
Concerns and occasional unrest after the landslide victory of centre-right Fidesz in 2010 and the rise of discrimination toward LGTB, Roma and Jewish minorities. Fidesz’ constitutional changes are widely criticised domestically and by the EU as undemocratic.
Participation in Multinational Missons:
NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo. UN peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, Lebanon, Kosovo, and Western Sahara. NATO mission in Afghanistan. EU mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.