On the Ground 1989–94

On the Ground 1989–94 presents underground culture and social changes after the regime change, looking at the period from 1989 to 1994 through the lens of Rodolf Hervé’s camera.

Rodolf Hervé was a French artist and photographer who arrived in Budapest in the last days of 1989. Being a foreigner of Hungarian origin, he had a special perspective on life in the years of the regime change, while participating actively and intensely in the subculture life of the period. He regarded himself primarily as a “perpetual and dissatisfied person” rather than an artist, as one who is interested in a wide range of issues, for whom art and life are the same.

Rodolf Hervé was inspired by the transitory years in which the old rules no longer applied but no new rules were in place yet, leaving space for artistic creation and freedom. His photos and footage of the changing world amount to more than art: they have historical, sociological, and cultural anthropological value. No wonder the collection fits into both the historical holdings of OSA Archivum and the art archives of C3.

Hervé never made a clear distinction between art and everyday existence; he recorded everything, sometimes with several cameras at the same time. The subject of this unique “self-documentation“ is predominantly the everyday life, feasts, and events of the Budapest subculture of the era, including the “cult“ night bars (Tilos az Á, ZanziBár, Biliárd 1/2 10, Fiatal Művészek Klubja), art projects, exhibitions and performances of his own (Warm Water, Tram No 6 at Night with Dániel and Mátyás Erdély) and of friends (Rézonances, Árnyékkötők, Újlak Csoport, Halas István, Kovács Attila, Dárdai Zsuzsa) as well as festivals and concerts (Artexpo, Agora Fesztivál, Új Nem, Flash, Vasmalom, Csókolom, ef Zámbó, Happy Band, Csigafröccs).

The exhibition in Galeria Centralis consists of about 100 color, black-and-white, and Polaroid photographs, accompanied by a video installation created from five hours of recordings. (The entire video collection is researchable in the archives.)

The video trailer of the exhibition is available on Blinken OSA’s YouTube Channel.