A concept only works when it is implemented
An interview with Gábor Gulyás, new director of the Kunsthalle
MúzeumCafé 30.
Gábor Gulyás has replaced a third of the staff at the Kunsthalle in the nearly one and a half years since his appointment. The reasons include efficiency and different tasks. He has managed that without any finances for redundancy compensation. After minor renovation he would like to reinstitute the Ernst Museum on Budapest’s art map, as well as to reposition the Pont Gallery in the Kunsthalle as the Lower Hall. He is still committed to his plan for a Budapest Biennale. He not only wants to hold the world’s art gathering but also that of international art institutions in the Hungarian capital every other year from 2014. Several dozen prominent contemporary and modern museums would be invited to the biennale, although they themselves would have to cover the expenses. We can keep our fingers crossed as to whether he will be able to convince them about missing a unique opportunity should they stay at home. Launching the Hungarian version of Flash Art is part of the overall campaign. Modem was established in 2006 as a new art centre in Debrecen. The Kunsthalle employs significantly more people yet its efficiency is lower, at least for the time being. The staff is continuously changing and unfortunately quite a few employees also had to be let go. By now some 30 per cent of the staff has been changed. New colleagues have been employed, for example someone to prepare bids and applications – this post did not exist before. Since 1 May some have two jobs – partly a museum attendant and partly an exhibition builder. This type of job mixing has worked well with Modem. The state finances the budget of the Kunsthalle and the Ernst Museum to the extent of only 279 million forints, which does not fully cover salaries and operation of the buildings. The nominal value doesn’t amount to even half of what the Kunsthalle received before the Ernst Museum came under its management. The small amount is not the only problem. In addition, it’s difficult to envisage next year’s finances as long as the national budget is not adopted. Planning in such circumstances is difficult. Modem’s subsidy has always been less than that of the Kunsthalle, yet financing has been more calculable there. However, there is another difference. In the five years I was there it never once occurred in Debrecen that the mayor or other politicians interfered in professional issues. They didn’t come up with ideas about who should have an exhibition, though it is personally important for the city’s mayor that Modem do well. The situation is different in Budapest – there’s less support on behalf of politicians, yet more ideas regarding who should have an exhibition in the Kunsthalle. The role of the Ernst Museum has changed a great deal in the past decade. The public has slowly forgotten about it in recent years. To say it’s faded away is unfortunately true, even if Károly Kelemen’s current exhibition, which involved the construction of some 1000 sq metre colourful walls in the exhibition area, has made the first floor sparkle with colour. Under the management of Katalin Keserü the museum focussed on presenting the 20th century. Recently it has exhibited contemporary artworks and furthermore in such a way that it somewhat lacked management. It is a hundred years old now and the centenary is a useful time for thinking about the museum’s role. It must have a more emphatic position in Hungarian cultural life. But before it is decided what is going to happen, the building must be put in order. Air-conditioning and humidity regulation are required, since without those it is no longer possible to exhibit prominent works. The Ernst Museum is celebrating its centenary with a street festival and a thematic exhibition. The exhibition is closely connected to the past 100 years. It will be presenting prominent artists from Picasso to Bill Viola, thus it will certainly attract many visitors. The Ernst Museum needs to be present more emphatically in the public mind and this exhibition serves that aim well. The interior will also be a surprise. A few months ago the dome of the exhibition hall, which was walled in for some reason sometime ago, was opened up. It’s a fantastic sight. On Gábor Gulyás’s initiative pulling down the later built wall separating the foyers of the museum and the Tivoli Theatre has begun, although the project has slowed down since the theatre may cease to exist. The aim for the Lower Hall in the Kunsthalle is to present projects by renowned foreign artists which have never been exhibited in the region and new works by Hungarian artists. There seems to be demand – for example, the Marina Abramović exhibition was seen by some 10,000 visitors. The exhibition What are Hungarians Now? exploring the issues of national identity opens in the summer and Imre Bukta’s Another Hungary will open later in the autumn. Holding the Budapest Art Biennale in 2014 is one of the most important plans. The project would cost half a billion forints but the necessary amount is not yet available. However, the museum is bidding and establishing contacts, and will begin promoting it next year. Hungarian contemporary art is not properly represented in the international art scene and a Budapest Biennale could contribute greatly to improving that situation. The central exhibition will be held in the Kunsthalle and several other venues are being considered. At present the concept is that, besides a large, central, thematic exhibition, significant art centres and museums will be invited, though they will have to pay for their participation. It is relatively easy to convince the institutions of former socialist countries to spend on such a project but successful, large west European museums are less motivated. Nevertheless, many of the latter, including the Pompidou Centre in Paris and MAXXI in Rome, will be invited. It is important to arouse their interest since there are many biennales in the world presenting excellent exhibitions, but a biennale where each institution can demonstrate what they are like today and where they are going does not exist at present. As is generally true for every concept, it can work only if it is implemented. Launching the Hungarian version of Flash Art has been another large project partly to present international contemporary art to Hungarian readers and partly to promote contemporary Hungarian art abroad. Readers of the magazine in Hungarian can gain information about current international trends and hopefully some Hungarian artists can get into the international issues. At the time Gábor Gulyás was interviewed in May two issues of the Hungarian Flash Art had been published. Up to then subscriptions had not come up to expectations, though sales in bookshops and at newsagents had reached far higher numbers than had been hoped for – the first issue was no longer available even in the Kunsthalle. A circulation of 3,000 seems realistic. The American editor-in-chief of the magazine was about to arrive in Hungary to visit exhibitions and studios for the second time in three months. The Kunsthalle appears in each English-language issue. The Kunsthalle is a central institution of contemporary art and of course its most important exhibition venue in Hungary. It has to match that role.