Art Residency Programmes

The Veszprém-Balaton region will be the European Capital of Culture in 2023. As such, our top goal is to present the region as a cultural-creative area through fresh approaches to the contemporary arts. The institutions participating in the ECOC Artists in Residence (AIR) programme will be involved in several projects. The House of Arts Veszprém, the BALATORIUM, the HybridCycle and the Füred Translators’ House will participate in the programme series. The common theme of graphic arts, photography, environmental art and literature is the inspiration offered by Balaton; artists will create unique works based on experiences and impressions gained at the lake.

The Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture (VEB2023 ECOC) programme aims to present the traditional values of the Veszprém-Balaton region while enriching the area’s cultural heritage with new, fresh approaches. We intend to increase the visibility and the number of visits with the resident artists and to the institutions and organisations operating in the region, where the landscape, the natural conditions and the atmosphere play a significant role.

The primary location to create art about Balaton is the lake itself. We, therefore, pay special attention to the Artists in Residence (AIR) events. Thereby we invite or select artists through a competition to move to and live in the region. We feel that embracing international arts is essential to being a European Capital of Culture. This is the thinking behind inviting foreign artists to participate in residency programmes and for them to show, through their art, how they see the region. The international resident artists will create artworks inspired by their impressions and experiences in the unique atmosphere of Balaton. Their works will reflect on the lake as a cultural landscape or a natural medium at the intersection of ecological challenges.

We hope that the events, exhibitions and workshops of the AIR programme will reach out to young people (high school and university students) and will launch sustainable initiatives in the long term beyond 2023. As Can Togay, Chief Cultural and Artistic Advisor of Veszprém-Balaton 2023 JSC says, "The effort to educate is paramount. We need new-style exhibitions and shows, open to the digital world, with artworks created in out-of-ordinary spaces." 

According to Bernadett Grászli, Director of the House of Arts Veszprém, a primary partner in implementing the AIR programmes, the aim is to make the new House of Arts an active and sustainable community location. "As an institution that presents the contemporary culture, we not only organise exhibitions to create a dialogue between different artistic disciplines, but also pay attention to developing programmes to preserve mental health and environmental sustainability. With the support of the VEB2023 programme, the new House of Arts hopes to reinvigorate the institution's international relations, its community club life and the mentoring of amateur art groups linked to the institution to socialise its activities."

Further AIR programmes supported by VEB2023 ECOC will enrich the overall cultural landscape of the region and provide visitors with a wide range of leisure activities during 2022 and 2023.

…have begun with two events in 2022: the exhibition, which opened on 9 July, was a fitting end to the two-week creative event in June. The AIR programme was further enriched by the artistic duo of Christoph Dahlhausen and András Gál between 11 and 17 July 2022.

The House of Arts Veszprém is also responsible for the "BALATON EYE" international photography art programme, taking place in the summer of 2022 and 2023. They will be based on local artistic traditions reflecting on the Veszprém-Lake Balaton region. Participants in the programme are selected based on their fine arts academic background and a minimum of ten years of professional experience in photography. Each year, the selected artists present their works in national and international exhibitions in solo and group shows. Within the residency framework programme, they also actively participate in art education tasks, sharing their knowledge at workshops and public meetings organised by the VEB2023 ECOC programme. The photo-art programme began in 2022, and will present the works of the invited European photographers at alternative venues (e.g. industrial buildings, churches, etc.) in the Veszprém-Balaton region and the House of Arts Veszprém.

Photographic residency programmes planned for 2023:

• EUROPE ARCHIVE - ERIC KESSELS [NL]: EUROPE ARCHIVE - Dubniczay Palace, 22nd June – 20th August 2023
• DAFNA TALMOR [IL/GB]: SEA OF STONES - in the area of Veszprém Castle, 22th June - 20th August 2023.
• NOÉMIE GOUDAL [F]: INHALE, EXHALE – in the area of Veszprém Castle, 22th June – 20th August 2023

Fine arts residency programmes planned for 2023:

• JÚLIA NÉMA - RESEARCH PROGRAMME AND EXHIBITION ON POTTERY MADE IN WOOD-FIRED KILNS OF VOLCANIC ROCKS FROM THE BALATON UPLANDS – Dubniczay Palace, 5th August – 3rd September 2023
• PETER DE THOUARS AND ANDRÁS BERNÁT - EXHIBITION ENTITLED 'THE MIRRORS OF SPACE' - Tihany Benedictine Abbey Museum, 9th September - 8th October 2023.

Organised by the Translators’ House in Balatonfüred, six significant European poets will share their experiences of the Bakony-Balaton cultural landscape through their poetry in the spring of 2023. The authors' presence here will not merely serve to create literature. Invited translators will adapt the newly written poems to various foreign languages in collaboration with the poets. The result will be a multilingual collection of verse. This collection will be presented at secondary schools and university lectures to young people with a taste for literature. Evening readings and pageant performances will enrich the programme during the high season, offering a unique experience to visitors and vacationers. The collection of poems will also be published in book form at the end of the project.

BALATORIUM, our major non-traditional ecological arts programme will provide the opportunity to create, learn about and experience innovative environmental art at the Tihany Limnological Research Institute in October 2022. The members of the winning international team of artists, Péter Mátyási, Anders Ehlin and Selma Boskailo, Marie Ouazzani and Nicolas Carrier, have gathered inspiration for their work through discussions with researchers and on-site experiences. The Balaton-inspired results will be presented at the Ecology Weekend in August 2023.

Winning artists of Balatorium AIR II

Further details about the BALATORIUM AIR programme: home | BALATORIUM Base

HybridCycle AIR is a project created in a similar spirit, with eight artists moving into the HybridCycle sustainability-focused creative space for three weeks between June and October 2022. The primary aim of this residency is to explore the intersection and frontiers of sustainability and the visual arts and to encourage and support creativity based on these themes. This year's programme is called BalaTones - Impressions of Nature. Participating artists will reflect on the messages of sustainability through their approaches. The focus will be on inspiration drawn from the environment, be it a distinctive landscape, a local environmental issue, a sociological or social pattern, or a local natural or artificial asset.

For detailed information on HybridCycle's activities, please visit Pure Balaton, Pure Art! | HybridCycle

HybridCycle's AIR 2022 call for entries was announced under ‘BalaTones - Impressions of Nature’.

AIR programmes focus on inspiration from the environment, whether a distinctive landscape, a local environmental issue, a sociological or social pattern, or a local natural or artificial asset.

The first artist selected under HybridCycle's AIR programme was graphic designer Dániel (Dani) Selyebi, who arrived at the Köveskál Artists’’ Retreat at the beginning of the summer. He spent three weeks exploring the most beautiful landscapes of the Káli Basin and drawing inspiration from the picturesque landscape to create his works. Dani came to the region with fond memories and a nostalgic childhood at Lake Balaton. His large-scale prints create an inverse experience between the viewer and the environment through organic abstraction.