Finding a Home in Art

We believe that art belongs to everyone. We can feel at home in the creative process. We can connect with ourselves and our environment by expressing our creativity. Combining art with social responsibility, the ‘Finding a Home in Art’ project is based on fundamental tenets of our philosophy. Through our work, we direct attention to the liberating power of creation, which is also available to those who live on the margins of society. The implementation team members are socially aware artists (photographers, graphic designers) and social professionals (art therapists, social workers) committed to art.

The first pillar of the project is a series of art therapy sessions, which enable homeless people in seemingly desperate situations to become active creators. Through the light-hearted use of colours and shapes, we can bring about a positive change in their lives. In art therapy, they can affectionately connect to themselves and their environment and recognise their hidden values and resources through creative work. The residents of the House of Welcome (Befogadás Háza), operated by the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, will be the people we will address in the first phase of the project. We will meet with them for 15 weeks starting in January 2023.

Exhibitions of artwork constitute the second pillar of the project and their creators will step into the limelight. The works created during therapy will be exhibited in the Magtár Area of the House of Arts. Photos of the creative process will be shown to the public in the Szilágyi László Street Gallery, in Veszprém. The exhibitions will bring the humane world of the homeless a bit closer to the mostly unknowing members of the society.

The first pillar of the project is our successive art therapy sessions, where people who have become homeless can move from a seemingly hopeless situation to become active creators. Through the playful use of colours and shapes, we can bring about positive changes in their lives. In the process of art therapy they can experience a loving connection with themselves and their environment, recognising their own hidden values and resources through creative work. The residents of the Hungarian Maltese Relief Service's House of Welcome will be the people targeted in the first part of the project, and will be met for 15 weeks starting in January 2023.

This poignant and heartfelt presentation is of great importance to homeless artists; it is an opportunity to demonstrate their individuality and their unique countenance. This, in turn, can have a healing effect. Moreover, it is important for mainstream society to open up avenues of connection and to mend attitudes towards the homeless, thereby strengthening social inclusion.

As the third pillar of the ‘Finding a Home in Art’ project in our mind are the future generations and we will use alternative awareness-raising channels to reach them. We will organise museum education sessions at the exhibition venues, which will also help students develop empathy and understanding by broadening their routine outlook. For the general public, lectures and workshops on the project's process will be organised in the Jutasi Public Space, providing yet another opportunity for dialogue. We aim to allow room for painful feelings, such as fear and anxiety, but also to the voices of compassion, solidarity and perhaps admiration. We want to come to realise how important it is for all of us to be at home in Veszprém – or anywhere else in the world.