The ‘alien’ from the East
Lóránd Hegyi, Director of the Saint Etienne Museum of Modern Art
MúzeumCafé 12.
Ever since my early childhood I have been intensively surrounded by art, architecture, music and literature at home. My father, grandfather and nearly all their friends were architects, my mother was a graphic designer, my aunt and uncle were musicologists and the family even included pianists. At first I wanted to become an architect and I was already attending a preparatory course to study architecture at the Budapest Technical University when I realised that the sciences of mathematics and physics were not for me. Yet I still often feel a certain nostalgia for architecture. In the end I chose the ‘easier’ way – art history. In the 1970s a few art theoreticians appeared who were able to link classical, modern and contemporary art through theory. The earlier ones tended to approach the matter from museology but then, for example, Lajos Németh – to mention the greatest – brought art closer by highlighting the background from which it emerged. His book The Turning Point in Art played a major role in my becoming committed to this approach vis-à-vis art. Somehow we still managed to learn who the internationally prominent artists were. That was partly assisted by the well-stocked university library, which included a journals section where we could find everything we needed. In addition, we all tried to get to the world’s or at least Europe’s large museums every two or three years. I was especially lucky because part of my family lived abroad and they were able to support my trips financially. In Hungary I met artists Endre Bálint, Dezső Korniss and Júlia Vajda very early, when I was barely 16. At the same age through friends I also met György Galántai, the then very young avant-garde artist who was beginning his artistic programme which later became famous, the Boglár Chapel Exhibitions. I was also introduced to painters Tamás Hencze, István Nádler and Imre Bak. I am not only an art historian but also a historian in the conventional sense, so I try to express myself objectively. I don’t think that the lack of freedom presents an advantage for art. The situation when it was impossible to create freely didn’t so much prevent the creative process but rather the socialisation of the works. What should have reached the potential audience could not do so. At the same time, those four decades were not a homogenous age. They can be divided into different periods. Within those in every so-called socialist country artists experienced a certain liberal unfolding which brought opportunities. For example, Miklós Erdély, often called the pope of Hungarian avant-garde, created his most prominent progressive works in the Balázs Béla Film Studio using financial resources provided by the state. Even if some exhibitions were banned and couldn’t reach the broad public, it cannot be disputed that those works were created. The same is true for László Lakner’s pop art pictures. In the 1980s I worked a lot in Austria and also taught at the University of Graz. There I met a most open, cultured Austrian politician, Erhardt Busek. When the director’s post in Vienna’s Museum of Modern Art became vacant he personally invited me to assume that honourable role. I wouldn’t say there weren’t any rather serious difficulties moving from being an ‘alien from the East’ to a cultural manager accepted by Viennese and Austrian public opinion, especially in the beginning, but I feel I succeeded relatively quickly. The museum’s new impressive building, the MUMOK, was constructed under my directorship and what I am most proud of is that in twelve years I managed to transform the Viennese Ludwig Collection such that today it includes at least two hundred east European works of art. When the far-right Freedom Party led by Jörg Haider gained 28 per cent at the Austrian general election it became a determining force in Parliament. It put incredible pressure on everyone who did not share their political views. Hatred of foreigners and the artificially instigated anti-European atmosphere resulted in a rather awkward situation for an east European official with a Hungarian passport living in Vienna. The Saint Etienne museum has a special status in France, just like the city itself. Saint Etienne is actually somewhat of a boring, grey industrial place, yet it enjoys an intensive and significant cultural life in addition to having this top quality large museum. The collection contains sixteen thousand works of art. My success is primarily built on the fact that I was able to buy a few of the world’s most famous contemporary works by Pistoletto, Gilbert and George, as well as Jan Fabre. Now a high international quality compilation of works of art can be seen in the museum as compared to the earlier collection, which had rather an art historic nature.”