euro|topics - Péter György

07/10/2008

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György, Péter

5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Népszabadság - Hungary | 04/03/2008

Artur Zmijewski's risky aesthetics

Media expert Peter György portrays the Polish artist Artur Zmijewski, whose work is currently the subject of an exhibition in Budapest. Among other works his '80064' video, in which an Auschwitz survivor has his prisoner number tattoo redone, is also on show: "All Zmijewski's provocations, his carefully thought-out and complicated works, target Polish society, which sees itself as the victim of a terrible war. This is because defensiveness and repression can't be cured with humanistic pedagogy. ... Films like 'Fateless' or 'The Pianist' are perfect examples of a failed humanistic pedagogy that promises salvation and catharsis even when there's no reason for it. The incredibly complicated and risky aesthetics Zmijewski employs - which create new connections and new horizons in his works - force us to acknowledge our faults. It doesn't soothe, but rather causes confusion and drives us crazy."

Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | 22/01/2008

Péter György wants new museums

Local history museums and major national museums are equally based on nostalgia, says Hungarian media expert Péter György. He argues for change: "These exhibits are about a world in which cultural space and narratives were unambiguous and arranged to the last detail. The dominance of a particular canon can only be shaken by the introduction of an opposing canon. ... Just as the small townsfolk knew their way around their local museum, so did scholars and art historians know great art museums like the backs of their hands. But in contemporary art institutions, there is no universal order, no system of acceptable canons and opposing canons. We can scarcely find our way. Today, words like cooperation, relations, community and process are increasingly important – as opposed to the terms stability and modernity in the 19th century."

Népszabadság - Hungary | 02/01/2008

Hungary's inappropriate cultural policy

"From the Kádár regime, we have inherited the gift of differentiating between alternative and official art," suggests media expert Péter György, who considers Hungarian cultural politics inappropriate and awkward. But it is nevertheless gratifying that an alternative infrastructure is emerging for contemporary visual arts, independent of the state. "The ministry and its institutions only accept as art that which is financed directly with tax money. That's embarrassing. It's just not the case that successful contemporary artists should depend on official recognition. Rather, the state should recognize that it would be in its own interest to participate in the careers of these artists. Its job should be to stand up for the future of those institutions that have emerged in today's cultural space, where the fate of Hungarian culture is decided."

Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | 07/07/2006

Modern Budapest

Peter György complains that Budapest's mayor lacks a vision for the city's urban development and is content to leave it to real estate speculators. "A monument to the 1956 uprising – a mini version of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin – is being built on Heroes' Square without there having been a genuine public debate about the project beforehand. With the exception of a few 1956 veterans, Budapest's citizens are no longer interested in what happens to their city … They look at lucrative kitschy buildings along the banks of the Danube with the same apathy. Budapest's residents have given up trying to interfere in municipal affairs… What they should do is to sign a new social contract among themselves and with the politicians that represent them. They must win back their city in their imaginations so that it doesn't become alien to them in everyday life."

Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | 19/05/2006

The quality of Hungarian TV

After many years as the magazine's TV critic, Peter György is resigning. He explains that Hungarian television is so bad that he no longer wants to have anything to do with it. He points out that for Hungarian TV audiences, "Hungarian society, the world in which they live, contemporary Hungarian and European culture and a large part of the country's cultural heritage has become invisible." György says he no longer wants to have to put up with "the fact that the so-called 'Hungarians of today' take a passionate interest in the sex lives of their contemporaries yet have absolutely no interest in ideas that reflect their own lives."

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