City Without a Center

In response to the planned revitalization of the main square of Dunaújváros, the Institute of Contemporary Art organizes a discoursive exhibition project entitled City Without a Center. At the time of the foundation of Dunaújváros (Stalin City till 1961) the central square was supposed to become the most important and representative public space that could respond to the Steel Factory, the industrial center of the city. In the course of the years after 1951 more then 20 plans were comissioned for the city center but none of them was realized.

For decades political celebrations and diplomatic receptions were held on the main square which however proved to be too small for marches and demonstrations. In 1990 when the Lenin statue was removed and an amorph group of trees was planted in its place, the square was emptied of signification and lost any of its public function.

17 years later the exhibition of the ICA-D follows several aims: on the one hand we would like to show and discuss similar urban settings in order to investigate upon the past, present and future of former places of representation (with special regard to socialist urban utopia). On the other hand we would like to grasp possible meanings of a lacking center both in urban and in psychologic sense. As a synthesis of the discoursive exhibition project we would finally like to locate and present those civic energies and potentials that are able to re-establish/contsruct/deconstruct and transform centers in Dunaújváros.