WHAT’S LEFT?
One-year Program Series
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives will conduct a multi-part research, exhibition and film screening project entitled What’s Left? to investigate Communism from a new perspective, examining its ideological and visual heritage in various thematic, geographical and sociological contexts.
January 25 – June 14, 2017
Shooting the Revolution
Film Screening Series
The Great October Socialist Revolution also brought revolutionary changes to Russian cinema. In a series of screenings entitled “Shooting the Revolution”, we will examine how the new ideological content gave rise to new cinematic languages through the films of Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein, among others.
February 2 – March 19, 2017
The Symbols of Socialist Art
Exhibition
The “sickle and hammer”, or the “red star” are still well-known Communist symbols, but how can we read other images, like “Sun”, or “book” in the context of Communist imagery? In 1974, art historian Nóra Aradi, the omnipotent guardian of Socialist Realism in Hungary, published a book entitled The Symbols of Socialist Art that, a quarter century after the fall of Communism, may also serve as a visual aid, a tool in translating the past to newer generations who were born after 1989. With the help of contemporary artists from the Central and Eastern European region, the exhibition The Symbols of Socialist Art explores and critically re-evaluates this visual dictionary, while also investigating the role of its author in the making of the art history of the 2nd half of the 20th century in Hungary. The accompanying creative workshop for students aims to explore the symbols of socialism, their political and artistic applications and what they mean for new generations.
April 20 – June 4, 2017
Red Africa – Things Fall Apart
Exhibition
The exhibition features artists, filmmakers and groups from across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Drawing on film, photography, propaganda, and public art, the exhibition presents interdisciplinary reflections on African connections to the Soviet Union and related countries. The exhibition is a cooperation between Calvert 22, London; Iwalewahaus – Universität Bayreuth; EGEAC – Galerias Municipais and Africa.Cont, Lisbon; and Blinken OSA, Budapest. As a related program, the film Our Africa by Alexander Markov will also be presented.
June 22 – September 17, 2022
Afghanistan, Graveyard of Empires – The Soviet War
Exhibition
The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan unleashed the last major international armed conflict of the Cold War period. In retrospect we can see a clear historical link between the fatal consequences of this war and the rise of global terrorism, the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath, and the ominous global trends since the millennium, including the recent migration crisis. The Afghan-Soviet war is still very much with us. The exhibition will be accompanied by an international roundtable discussion, organized by the Archive and the Open Society Foundations, in which participants will examine the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in a contemporary context. The exhibition will be accompanied by student guided tours as part of our education program.
September 29 – October 29, 2017
Somewhere in Europe – Gaudiopolis
Exhibition
The exhibition—a cooperation between Blinken OSA and OFF-Biennale Budapest—tells the story of a children’s republic that experimented with a new pedagogical and social model before the communist takeover. Gaudiopolis was one of the many smaller communities in Hungary that set out to build a better world on the ruins of the previous one. The research and exhibition project includes both archival materials and works of contemporary art reflecting on the ideas and realities of a Children’s Republic, but will also explore the period of the 2nd Republic of Hungary. The exhibition’s educational programs—a creative workshop, a drama workshop and guided tours—also evoke the spirit of Gaudiopolis.
November 7–29, 2017
The Traces of Revolutions
Program Series
On the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Blinken OSA presents a unique program series under the title “The Traces of Revolutions”. In Blinken OSA’s Galeria Centralis László Rajk’s installation will be complemented by a historical exhibition, a student debate is organized about the revolution, the experiment of communism will be discussed at a symposium. A film screening series will reflect upon the era, and a play by Heiner Müller (Mauser) will be staged, with Eszter Csákányi, Dávid Csányi, Gergő Kaszás and Blanka Mészáros appearing in the leading roles.