The Art Newspaper

Hungarian galleries form art co-operative

The 23-memeber association aims to draw foreign visitors to the country and revamp the Budapest Art Fair

By Richard Unwin. Web only
Published online: 17 March 2010

While the association is based on an older organisation, founded 20 years ago, the new structure sees a definite shift towards younger galleries representing contemporary artists, with half of the members having existed for less than four years. A number of the galleries, which include acb, Deak Erica, Dovin and Kisterem, have exhibited in recent years at international art fairs, such as Basel’s Liste and Volta.

“The need of showing ourselves internationally arose,” explained Magrit Valko, the owner of Kisterem Gallery. “There has been a growing number of Hungarian galleries participating at art fairs, but it was quite invisible from an outside perspective, because no gallery had the funds to participate annually at the most important fairs.”

By forming a cooperative association, Budapest’s galleries hope to maintain a sustained presence at a range of international fairs, increasing awareness of Hungary’s contemporary market. The Hungarian Government has recognised the importance of promoting the new breed of art galleries, with the Ministry of Culture providing funding to help cover the costs of attending fairs abroad.

“I think the importance of the association is to ensure a high professional level of programmes, gain much more visibility within Hungary and help the artists we represent, making ourselves seen as kind of a cultural lobby force,” said Valko.

Members of the association have already met with the Director of Budapest’s Art Fair. Their proposal is that the annual fair should move to a new venue in time for this year’s event in November, with the as yet undecided location providing equal status to historical and contemporary works. The fair has previously been held in Budapest’s elegant Mucsarnok exhibition hall, with historical art exhibited in the grand interior and contemporary works placed in an exterior marquee.