At the end of September, the Culinary Institute of Europe hosted another exhibition! We were honoured to have contemporary Spanish and Hungarian folk and craft artists in our exhibition space as part of the Hola Budapest festival. The event also served as the opening of the festival, with the Spanish Ambassador and Deputy Mayor of Budapest, Gábor Kerpel-Fronius, attending and speaking at the event, while the world-famous Spanish singer Luz Casal was present at the opening of the exhibition as well (who performed at the festival later).
Although at first glance it may seem that Hungarian and Spanish cultures are fundamentally different, the exhibition focused on highlighting the parallels: the material, the form or the idea behind the object. One of our favourites was the juxtaposition of the Spanish torreador and the Buso mask.
The diverse folk culture is not a relic of a bygone era, but a living and thriving culture today. Ferenc Sebő’s famous saying – “tradition is not a prisoner to be preserved, not a disease to be nurtured, tradition must be lived” – is on display in the exhibition, where works by Spanish and Hungarian artists show that traditional material culture and creative art is still relevant and carries a message in the 21st century.
The objects on display are contemporary representatives of this diverse culture, be they objects of daily use, ornaments or even costumes. The richness of materials (wood, wicker, wool, clay, metal, glass) is matched by the diversity of motifs. Artisans from thousands of kilometres away will talk to each other in Budapest through their objects.
The exhibition was curated by Dr Zsolt Sári and Ramon Vergara. For the event, András Sipos, Executive Chef of the Continental Group and teacher at the Culinary Institute of Europe, prepared Spanish tapas dishes.
Exhibiting artists: Felipao García BAÑÓN és SOL Y LUNA, BARÁTH Gábor, BESE Botond, Laurentino del CABO, Felipe CONDE, Angeles ESPINAR, FALUSINÉ TERJÉK Éva, Fernando GARCÉS, GORDIOLA, GOSZTONYI Zoltán, KELETI HORÁK Enikő, Yukiko KITAHARA, KÓSA Klára, KOVÁCS Ernő, LEGEZA Márta, Aitor MARTINEZ, María Teresa MIÑANA, Arturo MORA, OBJET PARTICULIER, PADOS Zoltán, PATTANTYÚS Gergely, Adrián PENA, PORKOLÁB Benedek, REVK Katalin, SALLAY Tibor, Alfarería TITO, UBEDIES.
