The Art Newspaper

Budapest’s Blood Mountain opens its doors

New art centre offers residency programme and international connections

By Richard Unwin. Web only
Published online: 14 December 2010

Art on the Danube: the Blood Mountain Foundation

With a name that evokes an air of mystery and the macabre, the Blood Mountain Foundation has opened its first exhibition in the Hungarian capital Budapest with a solo show by the Cuban artist Diango Hernandez. The exhibition, “a kiss, a hat, a stamp” (until 30 January 2011, viewable by appointment only), marks the launch of Blood Mountain’s international residency programme, with Hernandez having carried out three weeks of in-depth research in Budapest’s antique and furniture trade.

Registered as a Hungarian charity in August 2010, Blood Mountain has until now maintained a low profile, both internationally and within the local art scene, with few people in Budapest aware of the organisation’s existence. Blood Mountain’s founder and director, the Hungarian born art historian and curator Jade Niklai, told The Art Newspaper that the non-profit centre has been focusing on developing its artist-in-residence schedule, as well as an educational plan working with local children.

As Niklai explained, “As a private non-profit organisation, we have the ability to develop our programme slowly and consistently. BMF's ambition is to create a platform for cultural exchange and to become an arts organization both local and international artists and industry experts would be keen to work with.”

Located on the Buda side of the Danube, which runs through the centre of the city, Blood Mountain takes its name from the English translation of the street where it is based in a neo-baroque villa. Niklai has drawn on the contacts she has built up working in Australia, the USA and UK in establishing Blood Mountain’s international board of trustees, a group that includes Todd Bishop, director of exhibition funding at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and Edwin Heathcote, architecture and design critic at The Financial Times, London.

Speaking about the international involvement in the project, Niklai said, “All members of the board are people I have worked with in a professional capacity and who have a personal investment in developing new discourse between Central Eastern Europe and the broader, international arts community. Their tremendous support and tireless discussions are among the reasons why BMF now exists. But, it is important to note that our curatorial direction is strictly independent of the board.”

While Budapest boasts a relatively high number of commercial galleries and some highly respected state-run museums, the city currently has few independent institutions. Prominent independent projects, such as the privately funded MEO museum, and the post-industrial exhibition space WAX Culture Factory, have fared badly in recent years, with both institutions now closed. In such a climate, the city’s artists and arts professionals will be watching closely to see if the model offered by Blood Mountain can succeed. One positive for the newcomer is that its opening comes at a time when the Budapest art world is generally looking to increase its international profile, with commercial galleries working together to coordinate their activities abroad and the annual Budapest Art Fair seeking to establish itself as the regional leader for contemporary art.

The centre opens with an installation by Diango Hernandez, "a kiss, a hat, a stamp"