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Hungary / Hongarije

1. Cultural policy

Cultural policy profile

Cultural policy profile of Hungary in 7 thematic chapters, including additional information and resources:

Government

Ministry of Culture

2. Official representations

Representation of Hungary in Belgium

The Hungarian Cultural Institute presents the Hungarian cultural heritage to the Hungarian and the international communities living in Belgium. The institute strengthens the relations between Hungary and Belgium by means of culture, supports the cultural, educational and scientific cooperation between the two countries, and nurtures and builds the cultural values ​​and relations of Hungarians living beyond the borders of Hungary and in Hungary.

10 Treurenberg, 1000 Brussel
+32 2 209 0750
info@bmki.be 

Representation of Flanders in Hungary

Diplomatic Representation of the Government of Flanders in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia
Dhr. Koen Haverbeke
Elisabethstrasse 16, Tür 11
1010 Wenen
Budapest office: Zsuzsanna Lénárt
budapest@flanders.eu

3. About funding, cooperation and information centers

– Funding and cooperation

  • National Cultural Fund: The National Cultural Fund has become one of the most significant actors in the financing of Hungarian cultural life in Hungary and abroad. Since its establishment, nearly HUF 200 billion has been distributed to support programs and creative work that would not have been possible without this type of patronage. The Hungarian Parliament established the Fund to support the creation, preservation and dissemination of national and universal values, the main source of income of which is currently 90 percent of the gambling tax on the five-lottery game. Another source is payments from collecting societies under the Copyright and Copyright-Related Rights Management Act.

– Information

  • Hungarian Cultural Institute (Balassi Institute) Budapest: In charge of Hungary’s cultural and scientific diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreing Affairs and Trade relays on a network of institutions – at which core are the 26 Hungarian Cultural Institutes. The network of institutes aims to improve the recognition of Hungary abroad and to build and foster the cultural relations between Hungarian people living within and beyond the borders of Hungary.
  • Hungarian Academy of Arts (Magyar Művészeti Akadémia – MMA): The Hungarian Academy of Arts is a public body committed to national tasks concerning the arts – especially literature, music, fine art, applied art, design art, architecture, photography, film, performing art, folk art – as well as the analysis, support, education, national and international presentation and spreading of the arts together with the representation of Hungarian artists.
  • National Cultural Council: Established through an emergency procedure in the law on culture at the end of 2019, the National Cultural Council comprises the president of the Hungarian Arts Academy and the directors of 17 strategic cultural institutions. (National Theatre, Budapest State Opera, Museum of Fine Arts, Palace of Arts, Hungarian National Museum, Petőfi Museum of Literature and Open Air Skanzen Museum in Szentendre, among others). This council has been introduced for “centralized strategic steering of cultural sectors”.
  • OTM country page: On the Move is the cultural mobility information network, providing information and knowledge for artists and cultural professionals active across borders. On this page, you can find all current calls related to the country as well as the latest version of the Cultural Mobility Funding Guide – and more.

4. Other information portals and platforms

– All disciplines

  • TransArtists: An overview of residencies in Hungary, all disciplines.
  • Visit Hungary – Arts and Culture: A portal of the Hungarian Ministry of Tourism, Visit Hungary provides a lot of information on arts and culture venues throughout the country, as well as festivals and other events.

– Visual arts

  • The Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art: operates a key role in Budapest, connecting the Hungarian art scene to international partners.Its International Relations Department initiates and maintains exchange and continuous professional collaboration between the actors of the Hungarian and international art communities.
  • Off biennial: the largest contemporary art event in Hungary. It started in 2014 as a grassroots initiative, a “garage” biennale set up by a small group of art professionals in order to create a platform for exchange between art practitioners and other members of society. Since 2014, OFF has become an internationally acclaimed event. 

– Performing arts

  • Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute: a public museum specialized in documenting all aspects of the Hungarian theatre life and promoting research into Hungarian theatre history in the context of regional (Central European) and European theatre life. The institute is a museum, a library, an archive and database and organises exhibitions.
  • Hungarian Theatre Society: The society aims to support the development of theatre in Hungary. The members of the society may be the following institutions and organizations operating as independent legal entities: Professional theaters in Hungary, professional advocacy organizations, other professional institutions. It runs a few digital platforms on theatre news in Hungary.
  • ASSITEJ Hungary: The Hungarian branch of ASSITEJ, the association representing professional theater for children and young people. 
  • Hungarian Centre of ITI: a professional NGO of public interest the purpose of which is to promote networking and communication between Hungarian and international theatres. Beyond this a regular task of the ITI centre is to convey the World Theatre Day Message to the Hungarian theatres. The Hevesi Sándor Prize, awarded by the cultural ministry and ITI, is also announced on March 27. The prize honours the activity of those Hungarian theatre personalities (artists, cultural managers), who have great merits in the international dissemination of the Hungarian culture abroad.
  • Trafo – Workshop Foundation: Trafo House of contemporary art is a major venue in Budapest for performing arts, circus, as well as visual arts and more. Now part of Trafo, Workshop Foundation was founded in 1992 with the aim of providing support for independent artists, encouraging their artistic improvement in order to facilitate the development of the Hungarian contemporary dance scene as a whole. The Foundation works with nearly 200 Hungarian and foreign artists yearly and runs 4 studios in two highly important independent art institutions in Budapest. 
  • Színházi Dolgozók Szakszervezete (SDS): The Theater Workers’ Union is a constitutional organization of Hungarian actors and artists based on the principles of independence and volunteering, solidarity and democracy, self-government and open operation – founded in 1919. It takes part in Dance Passport Scheme

– Music

  • Hungarian Music Council: HMC objectives are the promotion of Hungarian music culture by social means, the protection and far-reaching promotion of musical values, the development of the social basis of music through the education system and independent musical activities, and the strengthening of international positions of Hungarian music culture.
  • Budapest Music Centre (BMC): a music information centre which collects and makes information about Hungarian classical and jazz musicians and about contemporary compositions available world-wide. The music database contains information about 3000 artists and 23000 compositions. The library contains approx. 90 thousand books, notes, and records. BMC promotes Hungarian music in Hungary and abroad.
  • Association of Hungarian Orchestras: AHO is a voluntary musical art organisation based on social networking and democratic principles and whose members include Hungarian professional symphonic and chamber orchestras, choirs and regionally operating semi-professional symphonic orchestras. It is a member of PEARLE.

5. Regional organisations

  • The Central European Initiative (CEI): a regional intergovernmental forum which gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. It supports a united Europe with shared values embracing all countries, regions, peoples and citizens; and fosters good governance, rule of law and sustainable economic development for stability, social cohesion, environmental sustainability, security and prosperity. CEI also supports cultural cooperation.
  • Organisation internationale of la Francophonie (OIF): The Francophonie is also an institution, dedicated since 1970 to promoting the French language and political, educational, economic and cultural cooperation among the 88 member countries of the OIF, among which support for Cultural Diversity. Hungary has an observer member status.
  • Easttopics: a non-profit initiative dedicated to the promotion of the Eastern European contemporary art field. This cross-border project takes form as an expanding on-line website and database focusing on the following countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
  • CEC ArtsLink: advocates and supports transnational cultural mobility and collaboration, empowering artists and arts leaders to engage communities in dialogue and creative projects for a more equitable, compassionate, and sustainable world. In many of its funding programmes, it connects the USA with European and Asian countries.
  • tranzit: Co-founded by ERSTE Stiftung in 2002, tranzit is a unique network of independent associations working in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia as well as across borders / peripheral zones of Europe. Each of the five tranzit initiatives works autonomously in the context of the local art scenes and the social and political framework conditions. They provide artists with a versatile space in which art can be produced. Check also other programmes of the ERSTE Stiftung for regional activities in (contemporary) arts.

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