Shoah

As an art institution, the focus of our exhibition is therefore the artists who were among the victims of the Holocaust seventy-five years ago. We sought to provide not a comprehensive picture but rather a subjective selection to help visitors remember these immortal Hungarian artists and discover their oeuvres. And behind the walls is the gaping hole: works that the slaughtered artists could never produce, life paths broken in half by murderers.

Entering the exhibition hall visitors can witness the works of some of the leading artists of the twentieth century along with the facts of their murders. As written by one of the ‘gate-keepers’ of our exhibition, Imre Kertész: “If the Holocaust has by now created a culture, as it has and as it is undeniably happening, its literature may take inspiration from these regions: the Bible and Greek tragedy, the two main sources of European culture, in order that irredeemable reality give birth to atonement: spirit and catharsis.”

We do not know if we can ever reach a catharsis but we should all try and create the opportunity with the means available to us.

The writings of Dezső Szomory, Antal Szerb and the works of Adolf Fényes, Imre Ámos and the others might affect each individual differently but can inspire everyone to immerse themselves in the exhibited artworks and help to come to terms with a monstrous duality: these masterpieces are just as much a part of man’s history like the Holocaust was.

We hope that with the means of an art museum, our dossier exhibition Shoah can help visitors to understand one of the greatest traumas of European civilisation. To quote János Pilinszky, the other “gatekeeper” of our exhibition:

“The history of Christianity did not end but began with the Crucifixion. Greek culture did not end but was revived with the birth of Greek tragedies. Poems can and must be written after Auschwitz too. Like a black sun, Auschwitz draws around itself, illuminates and creates order in what happened. We must not turn our backs on its horrendous experiences.”

Artists remembered at the exhibition: Imre Ámos, Andor Basch, Ö. Fülöp Beck, István Farkas, Adolf Fényes, Andor Endre Gelléri, György Goldmann, László Gyopár, Gábor Halász, Dávid Jándi, Benő Karácsony, Simon Kemény, Mihály Nádor, Sándor Kuti, Miklós Radnóti, Jenő Rejtő, Antal Szerb, Dezső Szomory and László Weiner.

Concept: Ádám Petri Lukács
Design: Dániel Taraczky, Art1st

The Sponsor of the exhibition is 4iG PLC.