History

The collaboration of Martin Piacek and Ilona Németh dates back to 2009, when they held a joint exhibition at the City Gallery in Bratislava. The show was inspired by the continuous deterioration of Slovak-Hungarian relations – primarily in the field of politics and media.

The Hungarian and the Slovakian artist started a conversation and a collaboration. The result of their cooperation is a statue by Martin Piacek inspired by the Benes decrees and a performance by Ilona Németh entitled Mud Wrestling and its presentation in the form of a video installation.

The artists now continue their collaboration at the 2B Gallery, where Martin Piacek will display some of his earlier works (he comments on situations in Slovakian history he considers embarrassing in the form of small wooden objects, e.g. August 13, 1939, the First Meeting of Adolf Hitler and Josef Tiso or October 26, 1921, the Demolition of the Statue of Maria Theresa on Bratislava), and will also create new works for the show.

Ilona Németh presents two new works to Budapest audiences. Her video entitled 8 Men presents the peculiar history of part of her family. She attempts to reconstruct the tragic fate of the family in the past 25 years from the point of view of a woman named Tímea. The location is Ekecs, a village in southern Slovakia, where her father originates from.

Her other work on display is the Centre of Europe project, where she deals with how seemingly exact scientific statements are relativised in the light of politics and national self- identification.