The most influential person
Barnabás Bencsik, director of the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art
MúzeumCafé 28.
To head the list of Hungarian Power 50 compiled by the art journal Műértő is clearly good even if some playfulness is included. The first place is due not only to the three years Barnabás Bencsik has been in charge of the Ludwig Museum but also to the past two decades he has worked in the field of contemporary art. These days it is important for a museum to define its identity in order to ‘sell’ itself. “The Ludwig has its own image, but it has to be continuously reconstructed. Each of our exhibitions, events and purchases reinforces this identity,” says Mr Ben-csik. The museum is unique in the Hungarian art market for its collecting and its exhibitions simultaneously presenting Hungarian and international contemporary art. The young, active community managing the Ludwig Museum has been together in the profession for decades. This provides the guarantee for the exhibitions. The past three years may have been sufficient to break into the international scene, yet another 10-15 years are needed to achieve stable confidence. In the past the museum presented seven or eight exhibitions a year, now at best six can be held annually due to financial difficulties. Guided tours, films, concerts and other related events have become more or less compulsory for a museum. A few years ago even educated members of the public rejected contemporary art. Therefore it is important to involve future generations with the help of museum education. The Ludwig’s Facebook page is visited by nearly as many people as an online daily paper. Borderlines in art are increasingly highlighted in this year’s exhibitions, as represented by a display of work by John Cage to mark the centenary of his birth. Cage’s oeuvre is the product of an experimenting, creative, thinking artist.