While „grand narratives" have often failed, some of their applications still stand and take part in our lives. It is the case of postwar modernist housing projects, which continue to have a massive presence not only in ex-communist countries, but in most cities of Europe and the United States. „The Other City" – an international exhibition curated by Hajnalka Somogyi and Samu Szemerey, and hosted in two venues – deals with ideologies behind public housing projects, the conditions they have provided for their inhabitants, as well as the agenda of those who support or criticize them.
The Romanian Gallery will show works that deal with social reality, everyday situations, and personal narratives (featuring works by artists Mircea Cantor, Miklós Erhardt, Mircea Munteanu, Tadej Pogačar, Józef Robakowski, Sarolta Szabó), while the Hungarian Cultural Center will address housing projects from a historical and ideological perspective (displaying works signed Zbyněk Baladrán, Terence Gower, Florin Tudor & Mona Vatamanu, Ágnes Dénes / Zsolt Keserue / Levente Polyák / Borbála Szalai, Société Réaliste, Michael Rakowitz, Pia Rönicke, Miklós Mécs). On October 26, Miklós Erhardt, Terence Gower, Mircea Munteanu, and Tadej Pogačar will take part in an Artist Talk hosted by HCC.
In partnership with the Hungarian Cultural Center and the Consulate General of Slovenia. (Image: Mircea Cantor, Shortcuts, 2004)
Venues: Hungarian Cultural Center (447 Broadway 5th Fl, New York, NY 10013); The Romanian Gallery (573-577 3rd Avenue at 38th Street, NYC)
FREE ADMISSION. RSVP at icrny@icrny.org, 212-687-0180.
