Was the project Pécs European Capital of Culture 2010 a success or a failure from the aspect of exhibitions?
MúzeumCafé 20.
Tamás Szalay, Cultural Director of the Pécs 2010 Management Centre: Success or failure? It has been successful from the aspect of the town and art, yet it’s not so clear regarding the ECC project. Mistaken communication focused on investments related to the project, thus delays inevitably became key issues. Hungarians in the Bauhaus and Pécs-Fünfkirchen-Pecuh represented a new quality in relations between institutions of Pécs and Berlin, as well as Pécs and Ulm. Significant, popular exhibitions included that of Munkácsy’s Trilogy. However, the town’s financial situation is not too positive. A very important element of the ECC project is represented by the town’s involvement in its international region, mainly with places in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A large number of proposals would not have found a place in the exhibition venues utilised to the full, thus the ECC management set up and has run a gallery in a town-centre mansion which had stood empty before. The 2000-year-old, World Heritage listed Early Christian Cella Septichora, which was restored with a contemporary architectural approach at the beginning of this millennium is a clear success.
Allan Siegel, American media artist, co-curator of the In Between: Displaced Harmonies project, Pécs: I understood the necessity of financial burden, but from the start I’ve been asking myself when an upward turn could be expected. When will the income be coming in from the large investments? Yet, you have to wonder who in the end is going to pay for all this. The exhibition Hungarians in the Bauhaus was one of this year’s events receiving most publicity. The problem is not with the quality of the exhibited works, rather the standard of design left much to be desired and the fact that the exhibition originally would have been held in a new venue, which has not been built. Similar problems have occurred with one of the town’s most important assets of cultural (and manufacturing) heritage, the Zsolnay factory complex. Part of the buildings were planned to become an art centre and another part to function as university buildings in the future. In principle it all seemed an excellent idea, but in the end something entirely different was implemented. The new library or concert hall could obviously have a great effect on the town’s life, yet if financing its schools presents great difficulties and the rate of unemployment remains so high, who is going to visit the library and who will be able to afford season tickets for the performances of the Pannon Philharmonic?
Júlia Fabényi, Art historian, director of the Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs: The Janus Pannonius Museum has contributed to the museum programme of the ECC project with two rather ‘strong pillars’, the exhibitions From Art to Life – Hungarians in the Bauhaus and The Europe of The Eight. In addition to their art history significance they were events of great cultural importance. The period of tender applications and the time following that mobilised positive forces, both the town and the museum were elevated with the plans of implementing the ideas. However, a cold sobering shower followed: the Large Exhibition Venue was the first and only one to be excluded from the investment project plans. This bad decision may have incalculable economic consequences in the future. Although our present buildings have character and have been renovated, and the new lighting and heating may help reduce the high electricity and gas bills, a new building of 5,500 square metres would have been a professionally sound option.
József Mélyi, Art historian, president of the AICA Hungarian Section: In every case success and failure depend on the conditions, potential and expectations. Hungary and Pécs saw the potential of decentralisation, and many people expected a transformation in the structure of international relations. However, at the end of 2010 it can be stated that great opportunities have proved to be illusions. Thus Pécs did not get the Antal–Lusztig Collection, the Large Exhibition Venue has disappeared, the Csontváry Museum has been dropped from the plans and the contemporary art concept of the Zsolnay Quarter has been lost. What has remained are two exhibitions From Art to Life – Hungarians in the Bauhaus and The Europe of The Eight, a few important newly published books on art and, primarily, Káptalan Street with its real museum quarter whose neglected condition has been changed. With some delay the town’s own traditions and intellectual roots also seeped into the programme: works by artists have been exhibited. What can be considered a real failure in respect to fine arts is the fact that, despite the opportunities, hardly any approach which would have been concerned with the town’s or the region’s memory, present problems, position or possible future was included in the exhibitions. Excluding the Bauhaus selection which is going to Berlin, no real international co-operation has been established in the series of events held in connection with Pécs European Capital of Culture, apart from a few projects for the sake of appearances.