Between 20 September 2019 and 1 March 2020, Mária Árvai and Daniel Véri organised an exhibition about a special episode of the history of the Hungarian culture at the Szentendre Gallery. The visual identity of the event including the poster, the foldout and the social media campaign, was to craft creative pieces that brought a nostalgic yet informative feeling to the event, allowing visitors to reminisce about the old days of an era that is long gone.
In 1959 a French book exhibition was organized in Kunsthalle, Budapest. By the end of the two-week exhibition, most of the books got stolen by visitors. This unexplored episode of Hungarian cultural history is discussed in the book, evoking the social and political context of book culture in the 1950s. It also outlines the French-Hungarian relations and Hungary’s diplomatic potential during that time.
The French exhibition was an international project aiming at loosening the Kádár regime’s grip after the Revolution of 1956. At the same time it can also be considered to be the first episode of the later intensifying French-Hungarian cultural relations. Among the first “thieves” there were a large number of art and art history students who became prominent in their fields the following years. They were interviewed during the preparations of the exhibition and their flashbacks have been video recorded. The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue that includes an introduction and documentary interviews recorded during the research.
The French exhibition was an international project aiming at loosening the Kádár regime’s grip after the Revolution of 1956. At the same time it can also be considered to be the first episode of the later intensifying French-Hungarian cultural relations. Among the first “thieves” there were a large number of art and art history students who became prominent in their fields the following years. They were interviewed during the preparations of the exhibition and their flashbacks have been video recorded. The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue that includes an introduction and documentary interviews recorded during the research.
The book includes old photos of the original French book exhibition, the bookshelves and the exhibited books. These photos inspired the visual concept of the catalogue. The grid system of the shelves as well as the stolen books are represented on the cover and by the layout of the catalogue. The cover has been made with blind embossing representing the stolen books. The chosen colors feature the French flag.
Credit
Organized by: Ferenczy Museum Center
Editors, studies, interviews: Mária Árvai, Daniel Véri
Copy editor: Bori Zelei
English translation: Dániel Sipos, Eszter Greskovics
Photos: Balázs Deim
Printed by: EPC
Publisher: Ferenczy Museum Center
Responsible publisher: Zoltán Prosek
