Central European Research Institute for Art History 2022 programs

The Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI) was founded in 2021 as a member institution of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, and incorporates three departments: Artpool Art Research Center, the Research Department, and the Archive and Documentation Center. KEMKI initiates and implements long-term research projects focusing on 20th century and contemporary art of Central and Eastern Europe based on regional and international cooperation.

Highlights from our 2022 program:

Beyond Friendships: Regional Cultural Transfer in the Art of the ’70s
May 11–12, 2022
The conference investigates the concept of cultural transfer and its relevance for the transnational art histories of Central-East Europe in the 1970s. Following the lead of horizontal art history established by Piotr Piotrowski, our conference attempts to shift attention from West-East impacts to the question of the exchanges that took place between the art scenes of the so-called friendly, socialist countries (not limited to the Soviet satellite countries). The program is composed of the following five sections: Theories of Translation and Transfer; Interpersonal Friendships and Dialogues; Hubs of Transfer; Agents, Vectors, Mediators; and Institutions of Friendship.

The conference is dedicated to the memory and work of László Beke.

Welcome and introduction: Dávid Fehér, director of KEMKI. Speakers: Zuzana Bartošová, Andrea Bátorová, Boris Buden, Hana Buddeus and Pavlína Morganová, Tomáš Glanc, Daniel Grúň, Emese Kürti, Zsuzsa László, Małgorzata Misniakiewicz, Cristian Nae, Radek Przedpełski, Magdalena Radomska, Alina Șerban, Natalia Słaboń, Jelena Vesić, Aneta Zahradnik, and Tomasz Załuski

The conference is organized in the framework of Resonances: Regional and Transregional Cultural Transfer in the Art of the 1970s, a research project supported by the Visegrad Fund and realized in cooperation with three partner institutions from Bratislava, Prague, and Poznań.

Tenth International ESPRit Conference
Periodicals beyond Hierarchies: Challenging Geopolitical and Social “Centers” and “Peripheries” through the Press
September 8–9, 2022
Postgraduate workshop: September 7, 2022

The conference convened by the European Society for Periodical Research (ESPRit) for the first time in East-Central Europe reflects on how periodicals challenge, transform or interpret the notion of “centers” and “peripheries” in a context of permanently shifting and historically unstable situations. Papers will investigate these questions through periodicals understood as essential forums of the public sphere, namely, from the mid-18th century to the present day. The presentations will cover the generation of knowledge, social dialogue, and transnational communication (both textual and visual) hosted by periodicals. Arguably, journals made visible and provided a platform for politically and economically “peripheral” areas, as well as socially marginalized groups. At the same time, other journals provided a means to maintain cultural and political hegemony over “central” social classes or global powers.

The conference is organized as a cooperation between Petőfi Literary Museum (PIM), Kassák Museum and Museum of Fine Arts, Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI), and Artpool Art Research Center.

Scientific committee: Gábor Dobó (PIM–Kassák Museum); Dávid Fehér (KEMKI); Emese Kürti (KEMKI – Artpool Art Research Center); Eszter Őze (KEMKI); Evanghelia Stead (UVSQ Paris-Saclay); Merse Pál Szeredi (PIM – Kassák Museum).

TÓTalJOY Prize 2021, Tamás Kaszás: Lost Wisdom
November, 2022
In 2021 KEMKI and Artpool Art Research Center launched the TÓTalJOY Prize to provide an opportunity and financial-institutional support for contemporary artists whose artistic practice is research-oriented. The founder and benefactor of the prize is the Hungarian artist Endre Tót. The mission is to enable every year the realization of one selected artistic research project—one that reflects on current cultural processes, dilemmas, and contexts—preferably with a connection to Artpool’s collection and current research.

Twenty-seven promising proposals were submitted to the open call and the six-member jury, which consisted of international and local professionals, chose Tamás Kaszás’s project, Lost Wisdom. The outcome of his research will be presented in the form of an exhibition in November 2022.