Hungarian Cultural Centre - Programme Brochure Jan-Mar 2013

Events

JANUARY



MARCH

2 01 3

Robert Berény – Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, 1906

january 17 Jan ≥ page 3 • book launch Mihály Babits literary evening with Mátyás Sárközi 22 Jan ≥ page 3 • announcement National Day of Hungarian Culture 25 Jan ≥ page 4 • children + families Kodály-based music sessions for children and their families 31 Jan ≥ page 5 • film The Door (Az ajtó)

by István Szabó

february 4 Feb ≥ page 7 • monday music soirées Introducing Béla Valkó and Camille Jauvion, chamber music 6 Feb ≥ page 8 • lecture ‘In Search of The Eight’ – Talk by Professor Peter Vergo.

Magyar Mind – Open Lecture Series

7 Feb ≥ page 9 • book launch Hungarian islands – an island in London: the short history of the Szepsi Csombor Literary Circle

by Magda Czigány

14 Feb ≥ page 10 • literature Passio (Passió)

by János Pilinszky 22 Feb ≥ page 4 • children + families Kodály-based music sessions for children and their families 23 Feb ≥ page 12 • education UK Meeting of Hungarian language educators

march

7 Mar ≥ page 16 • literature + exhibition UK Launch of Ninon Neményi’s Londonban, hej…

Exhibition of Mátyás Sárközi’s book illustrations 10 Mar ≥ page 17 • rememberence celebration Hungarian National Day 13 Mar ≥ page 17 • literature + exhibition A Journey to Hungary: An Early Republican Chinese Manuscript – Talk by Imre Galambos 18 Mar ≥ page 18 lecture Hungarian Photography – Talk by Colin Ford

•

2 Mar ≥ page 12 • concert Vilmos Gryllus – Children’s Concert 2 Mar ≥ page 13 • concert Vilmos Gryllus – Concert for adults

Magyar Mind – Open Lecture Series

22 Mar ≥ page 4 • children + families Kodály-based music sessions for children and their families

4 Mar ≥ page 13 • monday music soirées István Kassai, piano

•

5–10 Mar ≥ page 14 • theatre UK Premier of András Visky’s I killed my mother (Megöltem az anyámat)

Magyar Mind – Open Lecture Series

11 Mar ≥ page 14 • theatre András Visky’s I killed my mother – reading and discussion with playwright András Visky

25 Mar ≥ page 20 film The Tragedy of Man (Az ember tragédiája) Marcell Jankovics’s animated feature film

hungarian cultural centre • london

e BOOK LAUNCH

The Hungarian Cultural Centre is proud to host the launch of Mátyás Sárközi’s latest book about the Hungarian poet Mihály Babits and his life titled Párban magányban (Norán Könyvesház, 2011).

The blurb introduces the book in these sentences: Can we be lonely in someone else’s presence? Can it be that we would choose a spouse just because she or he would leave us alone?

What personality could endure the other’s desire to be alone?

People with these unusual sentiments might be brought together by their common desires to escape, to find their own personality while becoming a caring wife and a husband such as the genius Hungarian poet Mihály Babits and his wife Ilona Tanner. By using documentaries, diaries, private letters and poems, Mátyás Sárközi has put together the unique but at the same time everyday lifestory of this famous couple. Creating, accepting and playing certain roles while making compromises is essential in all games.

Mátyás Sárközi is a writer and editor who was awarded the prestigious Attila József prize in 2004. He is the son of György Sárközi and Márta Sárközi and grandson of Ferenc Molnár, the world-famous Hungarian dramatist and novelist.  Please note this event will be in Hungarian. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email

bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

Tuesday | 22 January e ANNOUNCEMENT National Day of Hungarian Culture On 22 January 1823 Ferenc Kölcsey – one of the most important characters of Hungarian literary history – has completed his manuscript of the Hungarian National Anthem. Since 1989 anniversary commemorations give us an occasion to celebrate

2013

Mihály Babits literary evening with Mátyás Sárközi In partnership with the British Hungarian Fellowship

january

Thursday | 17 January | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

3

january

2013

4

hungarian cultural centre • london

and nurture the Hungarian cultural heritage and national identity within and beyond the Hungarian borders.

In celebration of this special occasion the Hungarian Cultural Centre announces the Hungarian Cultural Award 2013 to Hungarian community and cultural organisations based in the UK who work during the year for the preservation and promotion of Hungarian culture and heritage in the UK. The award winner will be announced at the Hungarian Cultural Centre’s Advent family event in December 2013. ferenc kölcsey

attila józsef

In celebration of the National Day of Hungarian Culture, the Hungarian Cultural Centre also invites British poets to respond to the great Hungarian poet Attila József’s poetry. As part of the “Inspired by Hungarian poetry...

– British poets in conversation with Attila József” project, the Hungarian Cultural Centre will invite wellknown British poets to take Attila József’s selected poems as inspiration to create poems in response to his poetry. Tibor Fischer, British novelist and short story writer will be on the panel that oversees this great project. You can hear these poets and their poems on Attila József’s birthday, on 11 April, which is celebrated as the Day of Poetry in Hungary.

Δ For further information please visit our website www.hungary.org.uk

and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

25 January, 22 February and 22 March | 10.30 am ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA e CHILDREN & FAMILIES Kodály-based music sessions for children and their families Presented by the Hungarian Cultural Association Guildford These music sessions are suitable for children as small as 6-month-old. During the session the

hungarian cultural centre • london

january

parents learn and try out songs and games they can use at home with their children, which will help them develop not only their musical skills but create a strong bond between parents and children.

2013

Maria Chambers and Polla Rashbrook, two highly experienced teachers from the Hungarian Cultural Association in Guildford lead the sessions. They play music, sing and enchant children and parents with their engaging and creative activities. Δ £6/child/session. To book your place please contact Mária Chambers on 01483 808 643, 07843 054 940 or info@hungarianculturalgroup.co.uk. Further information: www.hungarianculturalgroup.co.uk

Thursday | 31 January | 6.30 pm ≥ Auditorium, EBRD ✉ One Exchange Square, London EC2A 2JN e FILM The Door (Az ajtó), 2011, 98 min, dir. István Szabó special guest

Oscar-winning director István Szabó In partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development the Hungarian Cultural Centre proudly presents the second UK screening of Oscar-winning Hungarian director István Szabó’s latest masterpiece The Door following on the huge success of the UK premiere screening on 23 November. Director István Szabó will attend the screening and take part in a discussion with Jonathan Charles (BBC).

Oscar-winning István Szabó, bestknown for his much acclaimed films Mephisto (1981), Colonel Redl (1985), Sunshine (1999) and Being Julia (2004), based his most recent film The Door on Magda Szabó’s outstanding novel of the same title translated beautifully into English by Len Rix.

istván szabó

5

january

2013

6 The Door is starring the wonderful Helen Mirren, who has recently graced in the much acclaimed film The Queen, giving one of her best performances which has won her the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress alongside the Golden Globe Award in the same category, and Martina Gedeck, the very talented German actress who is best known for her role in The Lives of Others (2006).

Magda Szabó’s famous novel The Door, which has been translated into many languages, is a semiautobiographical novel originally published in Hungary in 1987 and translated into English in 1995

by Stefan Draughon for American publication, and again in 2005

by Len Rix for British publication.

Rix's translation won the 2006 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, and was short-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Magda Szabó (1917–2007) received several prizes in Hungary and her works have been published in 42 countries. In 2003 she was the winner of the French literary prize Prix Femina Étranger for the best foreign novel.

Set in 1960s Hungary, this drama depicts the unusual relationship between two women: a well-to-do novelist (Martina Gedeck) and her poor, elderly maid (Helen Mirren).

Director of photography Elemér Ragályi’s trademark ‘quiet and meticulously composed images’ further enhance the artistic achievement of the film.

The Door has been nominated for the Golden St George award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2012, and was also entered in the Istanbul International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Galway International Film Festival.

István Szabó talks about his career and The Door in an interview he gave to the BBC Radio World Service (The Strand, 3 December 2012) at the time of the UK premiere screening. Δ Admission is free, but prior email registration via EBRDevents@ebrd.com is essential. Please note all guests are required to bring a form of ID with them and may be subject to random bag searches.

Further information: www.hungary.org.uk and www.ebrd.com

hungarian cultural centre • london

e MONDAY MUSIC SOIRÉES Introducing Béla Valkó and Camille Jauvion, chamber music

Camille Jauvion and Béla Valkó had been supported and advised by professors such as Ferenc Rados, András Kemenes, Rita Wagner and others. Several festivals invited them to perform, such as the “Spring festival” in Szeged (Hungary), the “Jeudis de Nîmes” in France, and the autumn festival “Des arpèges et des mots” in Montferrier (France). They frequently perform in Hungary (mostly in Budapest, but also in Szeged, Sümeg, Gyôr), and in several cities of France.

Camille Jauvion started her music studies at the conservatory of Montpellier, and continued in Nîmes with Catherine Silie. Then she moved to Budapest and entered the Ferenc Liszt Academy, where she received the tuition of Andras Kemenes, Rita Wagner and Péter Nagy. She also took advice from professors such as Vladimir Viardo, Ferenc Rados or Edson Elias.

Béla Valkó started his musical studies at an early age winning national awards when he was 10 years old. At the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy he was a pupil in György Déri's class.

At the same time, he was playing music with many Hungarian orchestras and he was chosen to be a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra as well as of the Schlesswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra. During his academic studies he became interested in chamber music and that directed him towards masters such as János Rolla, Márta Gulyás and Gábor Csalog.

Béla performed as a soloist with the Symphonical Orchestra of Szeged and Tatabánya and interpreted the cello concertos of Shostakovich, Haydn and Boccherini and he played Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. In 2012 he won the Solti Foundation Award, playing on a cello made by Viktor Koos in 2012 specially for him. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

2013

It was during their studies at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy of Budapest when Camille Jauvion and Béla Valkó had the first opportunity to play together. Their passion for chamber music and the tangible musical harmony between the two musicians inspired them to form a duo.

february

Monday | 4 February | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

7

2013

hungarian cultural centre • london

Wednesday | 6 February | 6.30 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

february

8

e LECTURE ‘In Search of The Eight’ Talk by Professor Peter Vergo

MAGYAR MIND

Open Lecture Series

The Hungarian Cultural Centre’s open lecture series aims to introduce various aspects of Hungarian art and culture as seen, studied and taught by British experts. The lectures are open to all and will be regular feature in our 2013 calendar. They cover Hungarian fine art, photography, cinema, architecture, music, natural parks among many others.

This lecture in the series by Professor Peter Vergo explores the work of the group of Hungarian artists who called themselves ‘The Eight’, and who are sometimes described as ‘Hungarian Fauves’. The members of ‘The Eight’ are Róbert Berény, Dezsô Czigány,

Béla Czóbel, Károly Kernstok, Ödön Márffy, Dezsô Orbán, Bertalan Pór and Lajos Tihanyi. Profoundly influenced not only by Parisian art but also by contemporary trends in literature, poetry and music, they were in effect Hungary’s first modernists; yet their important contribution to the development of twentieth-century European art has, until now, been largely ignored by audiences outside of Hungary.

In this talk, Professor Vergo will ask the reason for this unjustified neglect, and try to situate their work within a wider cultural and historical context.

hungarian cultural centre • london

béla czóbel fauve still life, 1907

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

Thursday | 7 February | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA e BOOK LAUNCH UK Launch of Magda Czigány’s Hungarian islands – an island in London: the short history of the Szepsi Csombor Literary Circle In partnership with the British Hungarian Fellowship The Hungarian Cultural Center is delighted to host the UK launch of Magda Czigány’s book Hungarian island – an island in London: the short history of the Szepsi Csombor Literary Circle.

The Szepsi Csombor Literary Circle , founded in London in 1965 by young Hungarian refugee intellectuals, was a non-political, non-profit making organization for the promotion of Hungarian literature abroad. Named after Márton Szepsi Csombor (1595–1623) who, as a student of theology travelled extensively – mostly on foot – in Europe and wrote the first travel-book of literary merit in Hungarian (Europica varietas, 1620).

2013

Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

february

Peter Vergo is Professor of Art History at the University of Essex. His publications include Art in Vienna 1898–1918, Kandinsky: Complete Writings on Art and The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Twentieth-Century German Painting. His exhibition Vienna 1900 was the centrepiece of the 1983 Edinburgh Festival and led to the award of the Golden Order of Merit by the Republic of Austria. His latest book The Music of Painting was published by Phaidon in 2010 and has recently appeared in paperback. He has just published a lengthy introductory essay in the catalogue of an exhibition of the work of ‘The Eight’ (Die Acht: Ungarns Highway in die Moderne), shown in Vienna at the Kunst-forum Bank Austria in autumn 2012.

9

february

2013

10

hungarian cultural centre • london

He was an example to students studying Hungarian literature in the soul destroying years of Communist rule, when the country was hermetically closed to the West; he was a symbol of freedom, both physical and intellectual.

No wonder that the founders of the Circle, Lóránt Czigány, István Siklós and László Cs. Szabó, all three of them 1956 refugee students in Great Britain, regarded Szepsi Csombor as their forerunner; however, receiving their education and degrees at British universities and settling down in their new country, they enthusiastically embraced the idea and challenge of “two cultures”: retaining their Hungarian identity while becoming responsible citizens of the United Kingdom.

From time to time the Circle acted as host to scholars for the discussion of various aspects of Hungarian literature and provided a forum for Hungarian writers both from home and abroad. During its almost 25 years of existence, the Circle organized one hundred meetings in the Polish Hearth Club on a wide range of topics, including accounts of the newly emerging democratic movement in Eastern Europe in the 1980s.

The Circle had an open mind and an open door to all views and convictions. It also acted as a publishing house, responsible for two series of books: in the Hungarian series it published 16 volumes by Hungarian authors, while in the English series 5 works relating to Hungary and Hungarian studies in Great Britain.

The publication Szigetmagyarság – londoni magyar sziget: a Szepsi Csombor Kör rövid története, Kortárs Publishing House, 2012, (Hungarian islands – an island in London: the short history of the Szepsi Csombor Literary Circle) by Magda Czigány, the wife of Lóránt Czigány and a participant in all aspects of the Circle’s activities, paints a picture of the endeavour with the insider’s perspective and knowledge.  Please note this event will be in Hungarian. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

Thursday | 14 February | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA e LITERATURE Passio (Passió) by János Pilinszky, translated by György Gömöri and Clive Wilmer In partnership with the British Hungarian Fellowship János Pilinszky’s poems will be introduced in a reading by Clive Wilmer and George Gömöri at the launch of Clive Wilmer’s New and Collected Poems recently published

hungarian cultural centre • london

‘A new and fascinating Pilinszky’ (Times Literary Supplement)

His eighth book of poetry, New and Collected Poems (Carcanet Press), appeared in 2012. With George Gömöri he has translated some twenty Hungarian poets into English, including books by Miklós Radnóti, György Petri, George Gömöri and, most recently, Passio: Fourteen Poems by János Pilinszky (Worple, 2011).

He was awarded the Endre Ady Memorial Medal for Translation in 1998 and the Pro Cultura Hungarica medal in 2005. Végtelen változatok, a selection of his poems translated into Hungarian by George Gömöri and Anna T. Szabó, was published by JATE Press, Szeged, in 2002.

Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

2013

Clive Wilmer teaches at the University of Cambridge where he is Emeritus Fellow in English at Sidney Sussex College and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of English. He has written and lectured extensively on the work of Ruskin and certain of his followers. In particular, he has edited the Penguin editions of Ruskin’s Unto this Last and Other Writings and William Morris’s News from Nowhere and Other Writings, as well as the Selected Poems and Translations of Dante Gabriel Rossetti for Carcanet.

From 1986 to 1990, he was an editor of the magazine Numbers, which he founded with three colleagues. From 1989 to1992 he presented the BBC Radio 3 programme Poet of the Month; the transcripts of his interviews were collected in the book Poets Talking (1994). He is a frequent contributor – as poet, essayist and reviewer – to a variety of periodicals, notably the Times Literary Supplement, The London Magazine and PN Review.

february

by Carcanet Press. Apart from Clive Wilmer’s own poetry the book contains over fifty translations, including thirty-six from the Hungarian. Clive and George will be introducing their recently published translations of János Pilinszky’s poems Passio.

11

2013

hungarian cultural centre • london

Saturday | 23 February | 10.30 am ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

february

12

e EDUCATION UK Meeting of Hungarian language educators The Hungarian Cultural Center believes in the importance of teaching Hungarian as a foreign language, which is carried out in many institutions throughout the United Kingdom – at the University of Westminster, the UCL SSEES, Glasgow University and at numerous Hungarian Saturday schools.

The Hungarian Cultural Centre is delighted to provide an opportunity and forum for teachers of Hungarians to meet and exchange ideas and best practice. Our long-term aim is to help teachers and language researchers to form a professional network and to encourage regular training sessions and professional conferences. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

march

2013

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

Saturday | 2 March | 11 am ≥ HCA Guildford ✉ 83 Portsmouth Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4BS e CONCERT Vilmos Gryllus – Children’s Concert Children’s Concert for all ages where you will have an opportunity to sing with the artist from his solo albums Dalok 1–4 and from Maszkabál.

Children are invited to wear the costumes of their favorite Gryllus songs to the concert, after which there will be an opportunity for trying out some instruments and collect autographs and to buy CDs as well as to take part in some arts and craft activities.

In a career spanning forty years, the musician Vilmos Gryllus has performed both as a soloist and also as a founding member of the group Kaláka, with whom he won the prestigious Kossuth Prize for services to Hungarian culture in 2000. His solo work includes the composition of songs for children, many of which can now be found in many school and nursery music books. Δ Tickets: £8 (in advance, HCA members), £10 (guests), £12 (on the door). For booking and information please contact Mária Chambers on 01483 808 643, 07843 054 940 or info@hungarianculturalgroup.co.uk

hungarian cultural centre • london

e CONCERT

The Hungarian Cultural Association Guildford in partnership with the Hungarian Cultural Centre celebrate Hungarian literature and music with Vilmos Gryllus, performing artist and Patron of the HCA Guildford.

This evening concert for adults features folk song arrangements for guitar and voice, plus settings of verse by some of Hungary’s most famous poets, including Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Attila József, Sándor Kányádi, Ágnes Nemes Nagy and Anna Kiss.

After the concert there will be an opportunity to take part in Hungarian folk dancing and enjoy Hungarian cuisine and wine. Δ Tickets: £12 (in advance, HCA members), £14 (guests), £16 (on the door). For booking and information please contact Mária Chambers on 01483 808 643, 07843 054 940 or info@hungarianculturalgroup.co.uk

Monday | 4 March | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre

✉

10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

e MONDAY MUSIC SOIRÉES István Kassai, piano Introduction by Ágnes Kôry István Kassai graduated as a pianist at the Budapest Academy of Music in 1982 studying in the class of Pál Kadosa. Then in 1984 he pursued his second diploma in the Conservatoire Européen de Musique under the close supervision of the world-famous professor Yvonne Lefébure. During and after his studies he also undertook several master courses, such as the one led by György Cziffra, who had a great impact on István’s artistic development.

During his career, István has won several first prizes in international competitions such as the International Piano Competition for Young Artists in 1972 in Czechoslovakia, the Piano Competition organised by the Hungarian Radio in 1979, and the Paris International Debussy Piano Competition in 1982. Moreover, István’s artistic talent

2013

Vilmos Gryllus – Concert for adults

march

Saturday | 2 March | 8 pm ≥ HCA Guildford ✉ 83 Portsmouth Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4BS

13

march

2013

14

hungarian cultural centre • london

was acknowledged by such prestigious awards as the ARTISJUS-Prize in 1976, the Bonnaud-Chevillion-Prize of the Fondation de France in 1986, the Nívó Prize of the Hungarian Radio in 1990, the Ferenc Liszt Prize in 2001 and the Weiner Leó Memorial Prize in 2010.

István Kassai made several recordings of the complete piano works of Ernest Bloch, Ferenc Erkel, Mihály Mosonyi, Leó Weiner and Jenô Hubay, which was followed by more than thirty CD releases including works by Ernô Dohnányi, Ferenc Liszt, Béla Bartók and Robert Volkmann. At his concerts, he played the premieres or the first modern performances of numerous piano works.

The Hungarian Radio has archived recordings of his works and performances.

István has published numerous articles and studies on music and edited many volumes of sheet music by composers and musicians such as Liszt, Mosonyi and György Cziffra.

Since 1989 he has been one of the founding members of the Ferenc Erkel Society and he was elected the board member of the Jenô Hubay Society in 1998. István was always determined to dedicate his artistic career to recording music. He considers his mission to preserve and convey the precious but undisclosed legacy of the Hungarian classical music from the Era of Romanticism and the turn of the 20th century to today’s audiences. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

5–10 March | 7.30 pm (additional matinees on Thur, Sat, Sun at 3 pm) ≥ The Rosemary Branch Theatre ✉ 2 Shepperton Road, Islington, London N1 3DT e THEATRE summer dialogues productions presents

UK Premier of András Visky’s I killed my mother (Megöltem az anyámat) Join us for the UK premiere by one of the most original voices of contemporary continental theatre, translated, directed and performed by London-based Eastern-European artists at The Rosemary Branch Theatre in Islington.

hungarian cultural centre • london

“How can you be not affected by an act of such supreme and protective loneliness?” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times)

image by tamás dobos

“The play, Dickensian in an Eastern European way, with a fierce, lean poetry, is a vivid portrait...” (Heidy Weis, The Chicago Sun Times) Δ Tickets: £12. 7.30 pm and 3 pm performances all week, for more information please visit www.rosemarybranch.co.uk. For reservations please email info@summerdialoguesproductions.co.uk

Monday | 11 March | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉

10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

e THEATRE András Visky’s I killed my mother Special reading performance and discussion with playwright András Visky Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

2013

“Though inspired by the true story of a Romanian orphan, Visky’s play is less concerned with ‘Ceausescu’s children’ — the abandoned generation born of a disastrous anti-contraception policy — than the metaphoric orphanhood binding and dividing everyone. Institutional neglect becomes a gift, releasing the main character from illusions of interdependence and forging her into an emblem of self-reliance. All of us, God included, are ultimately orphans, and this truth can set us free.”

(Brian Nemtusak, Chicago Time Out)

march

András Visky is a poet, playwright and essayist and the resident dramaturg at ClujNapoca Hungarian Theatre, Romania, where he also holds the position of associate artistic director. His plays have been staged in several countries including Romania, Hungary, France, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and the United States. He holds a DLA (Doctor of Liberal Arts) from the University of Theatre and Film, Budapest and since 1994 he has lectured at the Babeş-Bolyai University in the Department of Theatre and Television. He is one of the co-founders and the former executive director of Koinónia Publishing.

15

2013

hungarian cultural centre • london

Thursday | 7 March | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉

march

16

e LITERATURE, EXHIBITION

10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

UK Launch of Ninon Neményi’s Londonban, hej…

(Kortárs Könyvkiadó, 2012)

Exhibition of Mátyás Sárközi’s book illustrations In partnership with the British Hungarian Fellowship The Hungarian Cultural Centre is delighted to launch Ninon Neményi’s new book, which invites the reader to twentyone intriguing walks in London’s heart away from tourist attractions, exploring the hidden gems the capital can offer. Just like in her book, Ninon Neményi will lead us through small little streets while exploring every detail.

As we follow her on this journey, her stories unveil the secrets of the city and evoke hundred-year-old memories by taking us to rarely visited museums, tucked-away streets and secret gardens. What is interesting about the book is that the author not only talks about the buildings of the streets in general, but sheds light on the legend of every statue, every ornament. Therefore, we can expect a fascinating evening: we will see London in a new light, through the author’s eyes.

Ninon Neményi has been living in London for more than fifty years. As a true anglophile, she has collected her material with the uppermost precision and devotion. Each chapter is a proper course in the history of art and architecture.

At the same time Ninon Neményi will also entertain us with little anecdotes and jokes about the pubs and houses she has visited on these walks. Ninon Neményi will be our guide at this special evening where the audience can also explore the exhibition of Mátyás Sárközi’s illustrations of the book. exhibition open: 7 march – 5 april opening times: mon–thu 10 am – 5 pm, fri 10 am – 2pm  Please note this event will be in Hungarian. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

hungarian cultural centre • london

Lane, London W5 4EA

e REMEMBERENCE CELEBRATION

The event is organised by the National Federation of Hungarians (MAOSZ) to remember the Revolution and the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–49, when prominent political figures and writers led Hungary to rise against the oppressing Habsburg rule.

Wednesday | 13 March | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉ 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA e LITERATURE, EXHIBITION the british hungarian fellowship presents

A Journey to Hungary: An Early Republican Chinese Manuscript Talk by Imre Galambos Among the recently published travel accounts from the collection of the National Library of China there is an intriguing manuscript entitled Xiongyali youji, i.e. Record of a Journey to Hungary. At first sight this text looked very promising because it appeared to be an unknown manuscript of a Chinese person who travelled to Hungary sometime during the late 19th or early 20th centuries. It is written in classical Chinese and describes travelling to different parts of the country, visiting Gypsy communities and Slovak villages. Unfortunately, the publication provides only facsimile images of the text without any information regarding its author or date. This talk will relate the course of uncovering the origins of this travelogue and discuss the Chinese perception of Hungary, and the outside world in general, during the early Republican era. This is the fourth lecture in the Oriental Lecture Series started by the British Hungarian Fellowship three years ago. hungarian cowboys at the threshold of one of the curious cane sheds

2013

15 March – Hungarian National Day in Remembrance of 1848/1849

march

Sunday | 10 March | 5 pm ≥ Szent István Ház ✉ 62 Little Ealing

17

hungarian cultural centre • london

2013

18

march

Dr Imre Galambos studied Chinese language and literature in China, Hungary and the US. He completed his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley with a dissertation on the orthography of early Chinese writing. After that, for ten years he worked for the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library, studying medieval Chinese manuscripts and palaeography.

His main field of research is Chinese manuscripts but he is also interested in the history of scholarship in Asian studies.

Dr Galambos is currently University Lecturer in Chinese at the University of Cambridge. Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

Monday | 18 March | 7 pm ≥ Hungarian Cultural Centre ✉

10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA

e LECTURE Hungarian Photography

MAGYAR MIND

Open Lecture Series

Talk by Colin Ford The Hungarian Cultural Centre’s open lecture series aims to introduce various aspects of Hungarian art and culture as seen, studied and taught by British experts. The lectures are open to all and will be regular feature in our 2013 calendar. They cover Hungarian fine art, photography, cinema, architecture, music, natural parks among many others.

‘It’s not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian.’ These words of Robert andré kertész – satiric dancer, paris 1926 Capa may have been said partly as a joke, but they have more than a germ of truth in them. For what we now think of as a small nation, Hungary has produced a surprisingly high number of internationally known photographers. As long ago as 1931, the British journal Modern Photography’s list of ‘The World’s Hundred Best Photographs’ included eight names from Hungary, more than from any other nation – among them Kertész, Moholy-Nagy and Munkácsi. In our own time, the distinguished American journalist and picture editor John G. Morris has written that photography is a ‘vocation that seems to come naturally to Hungarians’. (‘Photography: Hungary’s Greatest Export?’

by Colin Ford in the Eyewitness exhibition catalogue)

hungarian cultural centre • london

march

andré kertész – underwater swimmer, 1917

19

2013

At this open lecture on Hungarian photography we have the privilege to welcome Colin Ford, who is a distinguished photography curator and is the founding director of the National Museum of Photography Film & Television in Bradford (now The National Media Museum). Colin Ford was the curator of the highly acclaimed Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century – Brassaï, Capa, Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Munkácsi photo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2011.

He has written more than a dozen books on historic photographers – among them Julia Margaret Cameron, “Lewis Carroll”, D. O. Hill & Robert Adamson and André Kertész – and has mounted many exhibitions. jános szász – holiday, c. 1973

Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk

or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

2013

hungarian cultural centre • london

Monday | 25 March | 6 pm

march

20

e FILM

≥ Ciné Lumière, Institut français

✉

17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT

uk premiere screening

The Tragedy of Man (Az ember tragédiája, 2011) Marcell Jankovics’s animated feature film (159 min)

MAGYAR MIND

Open Lecture Series

Introduction by Dr Gergely Bakos OSB, Sapientia College of Theology, Budapest Q&A after the screening with Marcell Jankovics The Hungarian Cultural Centre proudly presents the UK premiere of the feature animation The Tragedy of Man written and directed by Marcell Jankovics and an introduction by Dr Gergely Bakos OSB on the philosophical and theological aspects of the film and the drama it is based on: Imre Madách’s outstanding work of the same title from 1862.

Imre Madách’s play has been translated into 90 languages and is one of the great works of Hungarian literature.

The action takes place over the course of one very long dream, as Adam, Eve and Lucifer visit the world’s great civilizations at the height of their power, only to watch as humanity’s noblest hopes and dreams come to naught.

If anyone could have any claims on adapting Hungary’s best-known drama into a feature-length animated film, it is Marcell Jankovics, Hungary’s best-known living animator. In 1976 his film “Sisyphus,” a short-form masterpiece about the doomed, boulder-pushing king, was among the nominees for an Academy Award; the next year his “Küzdôk” (“The Struggle”) won the Palme d’Or for short film at Cannes.

hungarian cultural centre • london

The film crews he led as the “Tragedy of Man” director and writer changed substantially over the years, with animators retiring or dying. “The voice of God and Lucifer remained through the whole production,” Marcell Jankovics said. “But Adam and Eve grew old, so younger actors were brought in.”

“Tragedy” has now played throughout Hungary, where it has been praised by critics, as well as at festivals in Russia, Serbia and the Czech Republic. The film has been screened at festivals in Poland, Portugal, Armenia and Canada, in addition to its American premiere.

“It’s a monumental, gigantic opus that Marcell Jankovics created, the film he was preparing for his entire life.”

(Robert Ito, The New York Times, 9 November 2012) Δ Free but booking is required. Please call 020 7240 8448, email bookings@hungary.org.uk or visit our website www.hungary.org.uk and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HCCLondon

2013

Marcell Jankovics worked a section at a time, starting with the shortest scene, in which Adam transforms into a giant robotic spaceship as he and Lucifer hurtle through the cosmos. As soon as one section was finished, he’d go about raising money for the next, applying for small grants from organizations like the Hungarian Motion Picture Foundation. In the meantime he wrote several books on art and mythology, directed films and television series, and served as president of the Hungarian Cultural Society.

march

By the time Marcell Jankovics first started working on “Tragedy,” in 1983, he had already directed two full-length films: “János Vitéz,” Hungary’s first animated feature, and “Fehérlófia,” which stars a horsesuckled hero, his two brothers and a combative hobgoblin who loves to eat piping-hot porridge atop the bellies of his defeated enemies. Production began in 1988, at the tail end of what is now considered the golden age of Hungarian animation.

Filmmaking in Hungary was a state-run affair, and the Pannonia Film Studio financed by the government, had become a mecca for many of the top animators, including Marcell Jankovics. A year later the government fell, forcing artists and directors to find other means of financing.

21

hcc recommends Monday, 28 January ≥ Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3EU In association with Spiro Ark I lived on this Earth... Hungarian Poets on the Holocaust A reading by George Gömöri and Clive Wilmer Music by Marianne Olyver (violin) and Robert Schuck (piano) A moving evening devoted to an anthology on the Holocaust that comprises a selection of work by eighteen Hungarian poets from three generations including such great poets as Radnóti and Pilinszky. o The anthology can be ordered from albapress.info@yahoo.co.uk Thursday, 7 February, 8 pm (doors open at 6.45 pm) ≥ Camden Centre, Euston Road, WC1H 9JE stage in london presents Beugró Improvisative Theatre with presenter Péter Novák and actors Lia Pokorny, Péter Kálloy Molnár, Gyôzô Szabó, Péter Rudolf. o www.stageinlondon.com Hungarians in the North of England (Észak-angliai magyarok) offer regular community and cultural events. o Further information: www.facebook.com/groups/ eszakangliaimagyarprogramok

oxford hungarian society hilary term 2013 programme all meetings, except the one on february 22, will be held in the harris seminar room, oriel college Friday, 18 January, 8 pm András Kappanyos Ulysses revisited James Joyce’s masterpiece in new Hungarian translation Friday, 25 January, 8 pm Social evening with drinks and nibbles Those who wish can go on to the Mitre pub afterwards Friday, 1 February, 8 pm Endre László What Computer Sciences can do for Other Disciplines A brief overview of recent results Friday, 8 February, 8 pm Nóra Veszprémi, curator at the Hungarian National Gallery, and Junior Fellow of the Oxford Cantemir Institute Tales of Terror, Gothic Imagery in Hungarian Romantic Art, 1820–1860 Friday, 15 February, 8 pm Sándor Váci, architect and private researcher A Great Anglophile: Count Széchenyi and his Diary Friday, 22 February, 8 pm ≥ Harris Theatre, Oriel College Film: Adrienne Pál (2010) Directed by Ágnes Kovács Friday, 1 March, 8 pm Bea Nándori, member of the Oxford Branch Committee of the National Childbirth Trust Homebirth in Britain and Hungary o www.hungsoc.com

hungarian cultural association’s programme 12, 26 January, 9, 23 February, 2, 16 March ≥ Guildford United Reformed Church, 83 Portsmouth Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4BS Hungarian cultural sessions including Hungarian language, music, dance and craft for children aged 0–18 years old.

7, 21 January, 4, 25 February, 4, 18 March ≥ St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, Guildford, Surrey Hungarian folk dance for adults o For further information please contact Mária Chambers on 01483 808 643 or 07843 054 940

8 If you wish to receive more information about our upcoming events and sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website www.hungary.org.uk.

Alternatively, find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/hcclondon and Twitter @HCCLondon. Thank you for your interest.

The HCC team: Dr Beata Pászthy PhD | Cultural and Scientific Counsellor – Director Csilla Szentesi | Head of Programming and Communications Fruzsina Kováts | Finance Manager Gyöngyi Végh | Programming and Communications Manager Dóra Havasi | Programme Coordinator Andrea Kós | Office Manager Balázs Szaszák | IT Consultant

The information in this brochure is believed to be correct at the time of going to press, but as this may be three months or more before the events take place, we strongly advise you to confirm dates, times and availability on our website and Facebook page before setting out for any particular event.

The HCC reserves the right to alter artists or programme details as necessary.

Balassi Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre London 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA Tel: 020 7240 8448 • Fax: 020 7240 4847 • Message: 020 7240 6162 E-mail: andrea.kos@hungary.org.uk and bookings@hungary.org.uk

www.hungary.org.uk

@

10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden London WC2E 7NA Tel: 020 7240 8448 Fax: 020 7240 4847 Voicemail: 020 7240 6162 www.hungary.org.uk