Founded in 2006, the MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Art is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the exhibition’s concept reflects this milestone. From the very beginning, collaboration with cultural and educational institutions in Debrecen has been of paramount importance to MODEM, which is why we invited twenty partner institutions in Debrecen with whom we have worked over the past two decades to select a work from our collection that is important to them and to write a statement of up to 1,500 characters explaining their choice.
We are dedicating part of this anniversary to showcasing Debrecen’s cultural diversity, as well as to presenting a kaleidoscopic view of the works in our collection through the perspectives of our partner institutions.
In the second section of the exhibition, we have selected works by artists who have some connection to MODEM—for example, those who have previously participated in our exhibitions—but whom we have not yet had the opportunity to acquire.
Exhibiting artists: Kristóf József Balogh, Mária Berhidi, Ákos Birkás, Lóránd Bögös, Imre Bukta, Centrala (Małgorzata Kuciewicz & Simone De Iacobis), Balázs Csizik, Daniel Godínez Nivón, Miklós Erhardt, Mátyás Erményi, Miklós Ganczaugh, Pál Gerber, Kitti Gosztola, Ferenc Gróf, Sándor Imreh, Richárd Kiss, Katalin Kortmann-Járay & Karina Mendreczky, Gábor Kristóf, Csilla Nagy, Norbert Oláh, Rudolf Pacsika, Péter Pettendi-Szabó, Luca Rózsa, Société Réaliste, Ádám Szabó, Lilla Szász, Lenke Szilágyi, Lilla Váczi, Ottó Vincze, Wiosna van Bon
Partners who curated selections from the MODEM collection:
Alföld – literary, artistic, and critical journal, Dr. János Áfra, poet, editor
Antal–Lusztig Collection, Dr. Péter Antal, collector
Campus Festival, András Süli, program director
University of Debrecen Botanical Garden, Dr. Attila Takács, director
University of Debrecen Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Hungarian Literature and Cultural Studies, Dr. Gergely Tamás Fazakas, institute director
University of Debrecen, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Media and Library Studies, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Prof. Dr. Sándor Kálai, Department Chair
University of Debrecen, Faculty of Humanities, Arts Center, Dr. Zsigmond Lakó, Director
University of Debrecen, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Architecture, János Vági DLA, Department Chair
University of Debrecen, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Prof. Dr. Ibolya Czibere, Department Chair; Dr. Noémi Loncsák, Assistant Professor
Museum of the Reformed College of Debrecen, Dr. Dániel Veress, Curator
Déri Museum, Anna Viola Szabó, Chief Curator, Photo Historian
Károly Kós Secondary School of Arts and Boarding School, Margit Kozmáné Lőrincz, Deputy Director
kulter.hu, Barnabás Pótor, Editor-in-Chief
Ferenc Medgyessy Secondary School, Secondary School of Arts and Technical School, János László, Deputy Director
Méliusz Juhász Péter Library, Dr. Béla Lóránt Kovács, Director
Vojtina Puppet Theater, Terka Láposi, Director, Artistic Director
City of Debrecen, Dr. István Puskás, Deputy Mayor for Cultural Affairs
Debrecen, Dr. István Gábor, Chief Architect
Most recent recipient of the MODEM Award: Nóra Juhász, visual artist
MODEM tenants