Andreas Fogarasi
Kultur und Freizeit
Hungarian Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale
10 June – 21 November 2007
Commissioner: Dr Zsolt Petrányi
Curator: Katalin Timár
Artist: Andreas Fogarasi
Catalogue/book edited by: Katalin Timár
the book
Edited by Katalin Timár
Published on the occasion of the
Hungarian participation at 52nd Venice Biennale
www.biennale07.hu
The project ‘Kultur und Freizeit’ consists of a series of single channel videos, all showing the present state of cultural centres in contemporary Budapest, projected in separate black boxes which both physically and structurally include the spectators. At first, these black boxes seem to be minimalistic sculptural objects. Yet, as we move along them, their structure gets revealed and they look as much sophisticated micro-cinemas as simple wooden props.
These short videos are not straightforward documentaries since they don’t aim at providing the visitors with a comprehensive, anthropological survey of the current situation of these buildings. Rather, they function as signifiers for a contemporary split between mass culture and popular cultures, and their respective institutional frameworks, as opposed to high culture and its locations. This is emphasized by the particular use of the camera movement, the subjective points of view, and the athmospheric quality of the images that trust in the narrative qualities of the architecture itself.
In Hungary, the phenomenon and the proliferation of cultural centres belong to the past political era in which one of the state’s fundamental missions was the democratization of culture. The origins of this endeavour date back not only to André Malraux and French cultural policy of the 1950s, but also to the 19th century tradition of the workers’ club. In this respect, Fogarasi’s project has a geographic and political relevance that goes well beyond the Hungarian capital.
Andreas Fogarasi was born in 1977 in Vienna to Hungarian parents. He has studied art and architecture in Vienna and is co-editor of “dérive — magazine for urban studies”. He has held solo exhibitions (among others) at Grazer Kunstverein (2005), Georg Kargl Gallery, Vienna (2006), and Studio Gallery, Budapest (2002) and has participated in numerous group exhibitions including Models for Tomorrow at European Kunsthalle, Cologne (2007); Re-Modern at Künstlerhaus, Vienna (2005); Konstruktion und Situation at Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck (2003); GNS — Global Navigation System at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003), and Manifesta 4 in Frankfurt (2002).
Accompanying the exhibition is a book published in English. This 176 page publication features contributions from Jochen Becker, Sergio Bologna, Anthony Davies with Stephan Dillemuth and Jakob Jakobsen, Péter György, Zsolt K. Horváth, Barbara Steiner, is edited by Katalin Timár, and published by the Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König Köln.
ISBN 978-3-86560-287-9
For further information:
Contact:
Biennale Office
Mucsarnok / Kunsthalle, Budapest
Júlia Gáspár
Phone: +36 30340 78 49
Fax: +36 1 363 63 35
biennaleoffice@mucsarnok.hu
