Béla Bartók founded the museum’s collection. Bartók travelled to Algeria in the 1900s to collect Arab music but he was also preoccupied with the music of the peoples neighbouring Hungary. Later, he turned his attention to Turkey and other Asian peoples. This exhibition presents the varied culture of musical instruments around the world, and shows us their similarities, differences and how they can be classified, with the help of the Museum’s comprehensive collection of 300 world instruments. Besides the visual spectacle, visitors can learn more with the help of slide shows and computers. We will be giving a taste of material collected from distant cultures by Hungarian researchers with a CD that will be released during the exhibition: on it, you can hear some of the earliest music Bartók himself recorded on his collecting trips. There will be a number of additional programmes that connect to the exhibition, for example a concert presenting the musical culture of each country, which the museum will organise with accredited cultural institutions and societies in Budapest, as well as performances by Hungarian music schools within the framework of an all-day event. There will also be demonstrations of instruments and instrument making for professional groups and the general public alike.

Károly Gink: Exhibition of photography from Dezső Keresztury’s 1976 volume at the Mai Manó Gallery.
Béla Balázs wrote the story of the Wooden Prince which was Bartók’s first dance work. This exhibition presents the story of this magnificent work in photographs and pictures. It will show the human parable within the musical work and also pays tribute to the work of the photographer who recently passed away.

The group of modern painters gathered around Matisse, known throughout the world as the Fauves (wild beasts) from the sarcastic attribute given to them at the time, played an important role in French-Hungarian relations too in the early 20th century. The artistic movement formed around 1905–1906 had a big influence on the young generation of Hungarian artists. Several of them were students of Matisse himself (Géza Bornemisza, Csaba Vilmos Perlrott), while others regularly exhibited together with the Fauves at the famous Salon d’Automne in Paris (Róbert Berény, Béla Czóbel). On their return to Hungary they attempted to transform the spirit of the Nagybánya artists’ colony as well as artistic life in Budapest, and the “neos” did, in fact, succeed in opening a new chapter in the history of Hungarian art. The exhibition organised by the Hungarian National Gallery and to be held from March 30th to August 20th, 2006, will present the best examples of paintings and graphic art by the “Hungarian Fauves” – Czóbel, Lajos Tihanyi, Sándor Ziffer, Sándor Galimberti and others. Besides the Hungarian art there will be a small collection of original French works by Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, Dufy, Puy, and Valtat, giving the opportunity for an authentic comparison of the similarities and differences. A bilingual (Hungarian and English) scholarly catalogue with colour illustrations and extensive documentation will be published for the exhibition. It is expected that the exhibition will also be shown in France in 2007 with the contribution of associates of the Dijon Musée des Beaux-Arts.
Chief curator of the exhibition: Dr. Krisztina Passuth (ELTE), curator: György Szücs (MNG).

Of outstanding importance among our programmes planned for 2006 is the exhibition by invited artists linked to a double anniversary, the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer, Mozart and the 125th anniversary of Bartók, after whom our gallery is named.
We have invited artists who have already appeared successfully with individual exhibitions in our gallery or whom we are planning to feature in the near future. We did not set any limitations on the choice of size or technique for the artists invited to participate in the exhibition.
We asked them – and we look forward with interest to their insights – to try to represent the differences and points of encounter between the two cultures in works of art inspired by compositions of the two brilliant musicians. They were asked to freely and sincerely present their thoughts on one or other or both of the composers, drawing on all their talent and creativity. To seek a link – if there is one – joining or dividing the two artists. Perhaps to create two matching art objects. A number of music events will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, as well as museum activities for children (under the guidance of a trained museum teacher).

Artists participating in the exhibition (27)

Márton Barabás, Jenia Bozukova, Imre Bukta, Zoltán Csemniczky, Eszter Csurka, István ef Zámbó, László Egyed, Pál Gerber, Ágnes Haász, István Haraszty, Éva Monika Horváth, El Kazovszkij, Ignác Kokas, Mária Lugossy, Ákos Muzsnay, Kálmán Pollacsek, István Regős, Márton Romvári, Gabriella Sulyok, József Szentgyörgyi, Ákos Szepessy, Kati Székelyi, László Szotyory, József Szurcsik, Miklós Szűcs, Endre András Tornay, Erzsébet Vojnich

Listening simultaneously to musical works representing paradigm shifts of current and historical time transforms a linear time-convention imperceptibly into a multilinear, natural experience. Combining three dimensional space and three space-dimensions acoustically models the old experience now matured into a new paradigm, according to which every telematically observed doubt is unity. In the space and time specific present, the information of life is the work, and the information of the work is life. In other words, in the “virtual” spaces of works, or the “true spaces” of life (or vice versa) information permanently swap, unite or fall apart. The continuous current (fluxus) of these manoeuvres (cultivation) is life, the property of a healthy regenerating culture.

In György Galántai’s acoustic space-installation, the following works are used, exploiting the spatial properties of Artpool P60:

picture: Tibor Hajas (1946-1980): W. A. Mozart: "HAFFNER" SYMPHONY,
sound: Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791): "HAFFNER" SYMPHONY in D major (1782)

Picture: From Miklós Erdély’s (1928-1986) workshop: photomosaic portrait of Béla Bartók
sound: Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945): CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA (1943)

(the third sector)
sound: Mieko SHIOMI (1938-) - FLUXUS SUITE (2002)
(Musical dictionary of 80 people from the Fluxus circle)

note: “Everywhere we can observe that various types of apparatus programme our lives with stiff automatism; work is being taken from people and forced onto automata and the great majority of society is beginning to deal with the game of “empty symbols” in the “third sector”; existential interest about the material world transposes to the universe of symbols, and this value transfers from objects to information”. Vilém Flusser (1920-1991)

“New York"

International Travelling Photo Exhibition

Tamás Révész, photographer, winner of the Pulitzer Memorial Prize in 2004, first showed "New York", an exhibition of 62 black and white photos, in Tokyo where it was warmly received by visitors and earned great critical acclaim. Because Révész’s individual, often lyrical approach avoids the commonplace, he is able to give the viewer a glimpse into the everyday life of the city. The chief patron of the exhibition will be Árpád Göncz, former president of the republic.

Tamás Révész, photographer and designer, was born in Budapest in 1946; he has been living in New York since 1997. "I feel fortunate to be at home in both Hungary and America, and both countries contribute to my work in some way.” At the opening in Tokyo, Howard Baker, US Ambassador to Japan declared: "Clearly Mr. Revesz now "belongs to New York" in the sense that he has managed to perfectly capture the very spirit of the city in this series of beautiful photographs. Of course, his technique is fantastic."

Following Budapest, in the coming years the exhibition will be shown in New York’s twin cities: Beijing, Cairo, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Rome and Santa Domingo.

The paintings, graphics and unique monumental glass window art of József Viktorián Pituk are of great importance, and preserve as well as create a tradition of authentic original values and meaning. This art, which draws on “only pure sources,” reveals before us a sovereign creative artist who as a devout believer endeavoured to depict and express universality. Like his musical and artistic model, Béla Bartók, he drew on Hungary’s cultural heritage with a similar philosophy and intention. His numerous artefacts and treasure trove of motifs evoke Bartók’s music, which inspired many of his works. 2006 marks the 100 year anniversary of József Viktorián Pituk’s birth.

Béla Bartók (1881-1945), composer and pianist, was one of the greatest national and international composers of the first half of the 20th century. He drew on folk music and new Western European trends to create an entirely individual, original style. His art combines the Hungarian and international life feeling.
His third and last stage work, THE MIRACULOUS MANDARIN, is close to visual art in its mood and colours. Bartók’s continuous response to artistic trends can be felt in the work, without it becoming one-sided. In both the ideological and artistic respects he found a solution in a contradictory world which has a great influence on the art of our age. One of his most colourful works, The Miraculous Mandarin is a pantomime piece which is important for the related arts. Its atmosphere also inspires works of fine arts. This is why we have invited the artists of the Society of Inner City Artists to create works of fine and applied arts as a tribute to the memory of the great composer and musicologist.

On the occasion of the exhibition the Inner City Quartet and invited guests will give a big free concert in the Nádor Gallery among the works inspired by Bartók.

In its series on The Modern Tradition in Hungarian sculpture, the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts is exhibiting works by Ervin Pátkai who died in France in 1985.
Ervin Pátkai (b. 1937) studied at the Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and achieved considerable success in France in the 60s and 70s. Many of his statues stand in public places. This exhibition is a selection of works from his legacy.

Other events:
March 19th and April 2nd, 6 p.m., with the Albert Schweitzer Chamber Orchestra and its soloists.
Conductor: László Kenessey
Programme: Mozart serenades and Bartók chamber works

I. Béla Bartók dance works: The Wooden Prince and the Miraculous Mandarin

II. Bartók’s works on the dance stage (settings of various Bartók works in Hungarian folk music inspired choreographies)

Artists exhibiting:

József Ács (sculptor)
Júlia Albrecht (painter)
Margit Ballonyi Pál (painter)
Mária Bán (textile artist)
László Domonkos (visual designer)
Zsuzsa Hajdúfy (sculptor)
Béla Harcsa (film director)
Krisztián Ilosfai (painter)
Ernő Károlyi (painter)
Anna Mária Kőszegi (tapestry artist)
János Kukucska (graphic artist)
Hargita Mecseki (sculptor)
Fanni Novák (graphic artist)
György Salamon (painter)
Dóra Zsámbokréty (textile artist)

In addition to the above exhibitors, a five-member jury will select from the works of 50 invited artists.