The Blue Room
an exhibition by Tehnica Schweiz (Gergely László and Péter Rákosi)
Vernissage: 18.05.2019, 16:00 – 20:00
On view: 20.05. – 23.06.2019
Venue: Former Synagogue exhibition space / Kuny Domokos Museum / 7. Hősök tere, 2890 Tata / Hungary
The Blue Room is the result of a project started in 2017, aimed at the re-examination of our relation to architectural and material cultural heritage. The project merges two narratives: on the one hand, the story of the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts’ collection of antique sculptures, and on the other hand, that of the 18th century synagogue of Tata, which served to house the “temporary” exhibition of life-size copies of antique sculptures for more than forty years.
The Blue Room project by Tehnica Schweiz comprises a film and an installation. The film takes place at the synagogue, showing the conservation specialists of the Museum of Fine Arts as they detach the plaster sculptures from their pedestals, before disjointing and boxing them to be hauled away. The building is gradually evacuated, only to be occupied anew by a group of art students who transform the space into a temporary atelier. The young artists craft small porcelain copies of the Greek and Roman sculptures, giving rise to an entirely new collection from the accurate miniature replicas of the plaster copies. Transubstantiated into a memorial of itself, the building is eventually given a new function, and the sculptures once inhabiting it appear in a different quality (material, size).
The porcelain sculptures were made in collaboration with Edit Kondor, Zsuzsa Bokor, Mónika Csák teachers and Henrietta Bodnár, Gabriella Farkas, Bernadett Fúró, Boglárka Nagy, Ágnes Nagy-György, Barbara Szőke, MA students of the Product Design Department at the MOME University.
The music of the film was made by Viktor Bátki, violist and composer.
The next exhibition of the project will take place from 19th June until 14th July 2019, titled The Blue Room at the Kiscell Museum (108. Kiscelli utca, 1037 Budapest)
Program of the vernissage:
16:00 – 16:30
The Blue Room project is introduced by Tehnica Schweiz and Eszter Lázár the curator of the project.
16:30 – 17:30
Discussion related to the exhibition with:
- Edit Szentesi PhD, art historian, Institute of Art History, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Dr. Péter György, aesthete, director of the Institute for Art Theory and Media Studies – Eötvös Loránd University
- Richárd Káldi, stone sculptor and conservator, professor of the Conservation Department at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts
Opening hours:
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays: 10.00 – 18.00, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays upon appointment (+36 34 381251)
Closing event:
23.06.2019, 16:00
Guided tour with the artists and city walk with Mónika Kövesdi art historian, revealing the Jewish cultural heritage of Tata.
Special thanks:
Máté Birkás, Edit Kondor and the 2nd year students of MOME (Henrietta Bodnár, Bernadett Fúró, Boglárka Nagy, Ágnes Nagy-György, Barbara Szőke), Katarina Šević, Léna Kútvölgyi, Dávid Pap / FabLab, Gábor Pados, Viktória Petrányi, Richárd Schmidtmayer, Dániel Sipos, Zsuzsa Toronyi, Tamás Végvári / Liget Project Budapest, Dániel Zafir
Project supported by:
acb Gallery, Péter Barta, FabLab Budapest, Karmazin Studio Budapest, Product Design Department – MOME, Proton Cinema, SILKEM Hungary Ltd., Péter Szauer, tranzit.hu