Arts paper by Czeglédy, Nina and André Czeglédy
Beyond Borders - Art as a Catalyst
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Distinctly dissident under Communist rule, experimental art, served as a cultural
barometer in Hungary throughout the years of oppression. In the face of adversity and
political repression, many of the artists have continued to produce, stimulating, dynamic
and often provocative work. While production was tolerated exhibitions were disallowed
particularly abroad. When in 1984, Laszlo Révész and Andras Böröcz, two young
Hungarian artists toured across Canada presenting Hungarian experimental artwork, the
tour marked the first milestone of contemporary Hungarian-Canadian art exchanges since
the Second World War. I was the lucky curator of this touring project as well as the
Beyond Borders, Hungarian Video Art from the late 1980 compilation of experimental
videos for the Free Worlds: Metaphors and Realities in Contemporary Hungarian Art
exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1991. The cultural exchange continued in 1993
at the Budapest Spring Festival with the extensive Welcome Canada program. In addition
to concerts and lectures we have shown the experimental films of Michael Snow and
others and the first Canadian First Nation film program. The comprehensive Canadian-
Hungarian art-exchange is outside the scope of this presentation this is only a bird’s eye
view narrative based on my personal experience from those years.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Nina Czeglédy, artist, curator, educator, works internationally on collaborative art& science& technology projects. The changing perception of the human body and its environment as well as the paradigm shifts in the arts informs her projects. She has exhibited and published widely, won awards for her artwork and has initiated, researched, lead and participated in forums and symposia worldwide. She is an Adjunct Professor at Ontario College of Art and Design University, Toronto, Senior Fellow, KMDI, University of Toronto, Senior Fellow Intermedia, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Member of the Governing Board Leonardo/ISAST and Board Member AICA International Association of Art Critics Canada.
André Czeglédy, social/cultural anthropologist, policy advisor and management consultant whose work focuses on both site-based projects and broader cultural analysis dealing with corporate culture, urban change, museums and visualization practices. He is Associate Professor of Anthropology and former Chair of the Anthropology Program at Wilfrid Laurier University, holding degrees from University of Toronto (B.A. Hons.), the London School of Economics and Political Science (M.Science Econ.), and Cambridge University (Ph.D.). Since 1998, he has engaged in a broad-ranging writing project with Nina Czeglédy as co-author of a series of publications that inject social and cultural perspectives on the triad of Technology, Art and the Body.