Boglár 50

"In the 1960s, a new, critical and offensive neo-avant-garde culture appeared in Hungary. Its blossoming caught Hungarian cultural and political life by surprise. In North America and Western Europe, neo-avant-garde replaced the fading classical avant-garde at a time when, following its total repression, it was just being revived in Central Europe. But the neo-avant-garde, in sync with the world trend, was an unexpected challenge to the Eastern powers that be: they expressly hindered its development because of its social relevance. This culture was marked by unexpectedness, not only in its relationship to its environment but also in its constantly changing and ever-renewed forms. The ultimate source of this uncertainty lay in the artistic attitude towards an unknown reality. The creators of an unexpected culture allowed themselves to be surprised by the new challenges of the soul and spirit from within and by time and history from the outside world. This attitude emerged in their efforts as a stylistic trait, in their spontaneous self-organisation and in finding new forms and spaces of the public sphere.

György Galántai used his chapel studio in Balatonboglár as an exhibition space for new art in the summers of 1970-73. The exhibiting artists, like himself, were mainly from Budapest, as the Hungarian neo-avant-garde, in sync with the world, crystallised in the only major Hungarian city. Tamás Szentjóby and his colleagues organised the first Hungarian happening in Budapest.Péter Halász, whose experimental theatre company organised the first Hungarian apartment theatre after being banned by the authorities – also performed his all-night play King Kong in and around the Boglár chapel. – Ádám Tábor

ECOC’s professional programme, entitled Unexpected Culture, pays tribute to the irreplaceable and still valid European heritage of this important chapter of the neo-avant-garde in Hungary by inviting and supporting six visual arts – and, in part, all-art - projects. We hope that exploring the European embeddedness of neo-avant-garde, historical exhibitions and performative events will revive its heritage for contemporary society.