Hungarian Beauty
"Our Hungarian identity is not in its healthiest and happiest period. Still, we keep on being sexy, straightforward and ironic. Folclor mingles into the urban mood, and it is up to us to define which is dominant. Is the sexy Hungarian girl attracting you or you cannot take your eyes off our nudist fairy tale princess? Is it a trabant or some high class design car in the background?"
"A képek témájául a hagyományőrzés egyik legjelesebb példáját választottam, mert ebben még megcsillan az a nagybetűs magyarság, ami bennünket annyira jellemez, a régi ruhák alól felsejlik a betyárhagyomány, táncos ruhájuk a néhai nagymamák nyomdokain lépeget, mozdulataikból felsejlik a magyar virtus. Véleményem szerint ezekből a dolgokból minden képen megmutatkozik valami, így hát mindegyik magáért beszél."
1. Csocsó: Widely spread, table football spices up evenings in Hungarian pubs.
2. Old woman: A conversation between a resident of Budapest and the city. Life in the city might have given her marks of aging, but her stare shows that the marks she left in the city are definitely deeper.
3. Pantomime. This form of pantomime is well-known in other European capitals, now it's time for the Hungarian capital to enjoy this entertaining form of beggary: the first one among them, the man wearing clay clothes.
4. Hungarian love – Why? Saturday night, Keleti tram station. A girl and boy is on the verge of losing their heads,trying to persuade each other about what love means to each of them.
5. Hungarian Humor. A passer by decided to dance and pose in front of my camera lens.
6. Hungarian beggar woman: One of the specific traits of hot touristic places in Hungary, that beggars, also entertain you and usually befriend people who approach them. This kind lady in Vörösmarty Square was more than happy that I wanted to catch a glimpse of her performance.
"I covered 3 themes with my photos, as the first one shows Hungarian love, the second to fourth reflect the European facet of life in Budapest with a Hugarian flavour, and the very last shows a Hungarian sculpture examplifying Hungarian sense of humor."
Photo #1 'Just the two of us' : A liitle boy with his grandfather standing infront of eachother having a the whole Hungarian history and future in few inches. The photo was taken close to Petofi bridge.
#2 'Shop till u drop': An urban woman walking with confidence infront of some commercial advertisements showing how Budapest is turning into a cosmopolitan capitalist city witha asteady confident step.
#3 Smsing over the danube : As a Budapester man was crossing the danube on one of the landmark bridges of the Hungarian capital, he was text messaging using a cutting edge technology bridge to the future.
# 4 Street portrait : A young German man in vaci street decided to get him self painted by a Hungarian artist. The European touristic experience is getting stretched to the max in country that is developing an exceptional mystical appeal.
# 5 Ice Cow-eam 'Do not lick !': This photo combines two themes of the competition, as it was a part of a European sculpture contest that traveled throughout Europe and spent a whole year in each capital. 2006 was Hungary's year, and as the photo shows, there is a humorous melting cow that is liquifying over the ground, with an ice cream stick which reads 'Do Not Lick'.
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) and Európa Pont – the new EU information and cultural centre invite you to participate in a photo and video competition if you think you have a flair for photography, film or graphic design.
We were wondering how you might capture the essence of „Magyarness“ that surrounds you day by day. If you can show us your best visual impression of this „Magyarness“ do not hesitate to send us that picture or video, even an animation. But try to stay away from stereotypes; we want your unique insight, not a person spooning down Gulyás soup next to his Rubik’s cube in the puszta.
Your entry can be as abstract or as literal as you please in your chosen medium as long as it tells us something about what captured your imagination in Hungary the most, what you came to recognize as Magyarness.
The entries for the video competition will be judged by film director György Pálfi, screenwriter, producer Viktória Petrányi and József Fülöp senior lecturer of MOME animation. The photo entries will be judged by photographer and cinematographer Tamás Dobos, independent curator Sári Stenzel and Ábel Szalontai senior lecturer of MOME photo. There will be 4 categories in the competition, but we are positive that your artwork will relate to one of these. If you do not have a solid idea yet, let the following inspire you.
Hun Humour
Sometimes black, often far from polite, but never boring. Did you tap into what makes them laugh? And what is it you find funny about your experiences in Hungary?
Water-water everywhere
Hungary is the country of waters. Oh yes. Look to your left: it’s the Danube – river that connects 7 European countries, you look on your right and see the Rudas Thermal Bath. You look up it's raining. Look down at a bottle of mineral water in your hand. Could all that water be your inspiration?
Everyday Magyar, Everyday European
Hungary is full of Hungarians. Life in Hungary consists of many things that are Hungarian. And many things that are European. Show us differences and similarities! Show us the extraordinary in the trivial!
The Hungarian Heart
Hungarians fancy themselves warm-hearted, with deep feelings they are not afraid to express. Any observations you like to share? Are they as hospitable as they say? Romantic outbursts on public transport? Volunteering? Conversations in coffeehouses deeper than you ever imagined? And the questions keep on coming.
Group entries are welcome and if you wish to explore or demonstrate a subject through a series you are more than welcome to do so as well. And do surprise us; we are open to all the creative ideas you can show us in whatever form.
Winning entries will be exhibited at Európa Pont and at one of the biggest summer festivals in Budapest. The main prize is a trip to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (travel expenses and accreditation).
We hope the artworks that will be generated by this open call will start a dialogue and enrich ideas about Hungary and invite all to view everyday things as unique, interesting, and culturally significant.
Deadline for submission: 31st of April 2011
For more information please feel free to contact us at magyarness@mome.hu. For the conditions of application, please visit the Facebook page of the Magyarness competition. For further information watch this space.