Decennium - Exhibition of the ÚJPART Association

Artists: Attila Balla, Mária Cyránski, Árpád Csikós, Annamária Eke, Jenő Éri, Sándor Feltóti, Tamás Füredi, Tibor Horváth, János Ihász, Tamás Tibor Kaszás, Marián Éva Kelemen, Anna Kiss, Ervin Gábor Kiss, Károly Koffán Jr., Vilmos Lipics, Márk Martinkó, Rezső Móder, Gábor Molnár, Péter Páhi, Noémi Páhi-Fekete, ROHO, János Vachter, Gyula Várnai

Vernissage: 11 September 2015, on Friday at 6 pm

On view till 9 October 2015, daily from 10 am to 6 pm, except Sundays

Already from the early seventies, there were attempts in Dunaújváros to establish a professional federation gathering the local fine and applied artists into one organisation. There was a need for this because – as opposed to the representatives of the other art forms, behind whom stood an institution for each and who were represented by these institutions in the various forums – the fine and applied artists could only individually turn to the respective organisations with the questions, requests and problems that affected them. The various attempts and their resulting groups that were formed, however, proved to be successively short-lived, most often thanks to certain personal conflicts. The other cause for these failures was that in Dunaújváros, quite a significant number of artists live, relative to settlements of similar population, and there are even more who, in some way or other, have links to the city, and – naturally – these artists have differing preferences, and their conceptions of art span wider and wider. And thus, an overwhelming number of obstacles impeded the foundation of an organisation in which the widest spectrum of the city’s artists would be represented.

And so, the institution of a group to safeguard the artists’ interests, in fact, became inevitable following the political changes in Hungary. On the one hand, the system of financing art had changed (the so-called “artist-positions” were terminated; state, municipal and state firm commissions became a thing of the past; etc.), on the other hand, the large, national professional organisations proved to lose their weight and significance, and thus, they were not capable of effectively intervening in the interest of their members. The role of these national organisations changed, just as the entire system changed: presently, also in other spheres of life, an increasing burden falls on the local governments, who are compelled to fill ever more functions, and accordingly, the role of local interest groups has also grown. In the knowledge of this, from the early nineties, newer attempts were launched for the Dunújváros artists to join forces in the interest of the assertion of their own rights and possibilities.

The sequence of unsuccessful attempts finally came to an end only in 2004, thanks to the Institute of Contemporary Art’s discussion-series, entitled Forum – The Public Sphere of Art, which, in fact, provoked the local artists to – putting aside their personal differences – endeavour to collectively intervene in an effort to resolve the problems affecting them all. Following one and a half years of preparatory work, the ÚJPART: Dunaújváros Association of Fine and Applied Artists became an officially registered organisation in the summer of 2005, and currently lists 31 members (and with this, can be recognised as having the largest membership in view of all its prior formations).

The organisation has attained an invitation as a permanent participant at the meetings of the Cultural Committee of the Local Government, and thus, at the moment of forming cultural policy strategy and decision-making, they can immediately form an opinion and assist in the work of the Committee with their contributions, directly intervening in the interest of the artists they represent, without delay. Therefore, the ÚJPART Association does not merely strive to fight for financial support and other provisions, so that its members can accomplish their work within the most suitable circumstances, and so that the living conditions of the Dunaújváros artists are improved: the Association also endeavours to invest its energies and its experiences concentrated within it, so that it can aid in professional questions as a consultational partner of the city leadership, and in this way it can optimally shape the physiognomy and the living space of the city.

Tamás Fehérvári (chairman of the Association)

Supported by The National Cultural Fund of Hungary, Local Government of Dunaújváros, Public Fund for Modern Art