Following Hungarian politicians’ decision to scrap plans for an extension to the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts in Spring 2011, the museum’s director has fired back with a plan to revitalise its visual art displays by adding two new buildings to the complex.
“I have suggested to the government [that we] build two new museum buildings,” Laszlo Baan said of the situation, explaining the functions of the buildings to the Art Newspaper.
“One [would be] a so-called ‘New Gallery’ where we would show Hungarian and European modernity through to the contemporary period,” he said.
“The other building would be used to show Hungarian photography. It would be a special museum island – complementing the existing Museum of Fine Arts and Mucsarnok (Kunsthalle) with the new galleries – where all the main state heritage of Hungarian and European art would be shown.”
With many holidaymakers seeking out city breaks in Budapest due to the lower prices found in Eastern European countries outside of the Eurozone, the move could work wonders in helping to highlight Hungarian culture to those from other parts of Europe and the world.
Baan apparently has touted two recent exhibitions in London that had a focus on Hungarian contributions. While one of the showings kept Hungarian art in the limelight, the other showcased the country’s artists alongside those from other European countries.
“The reunification would be an important argument for the riches of Hungarian art,” Baan said. “This is the European model – to show work in an international context – not the separation.”
