Cultural Studies paper by Peter, Christina
Frick Art Reference Library

Documenting Hungarian Underground Art, 1970s-1980s

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The proposed paper, with a focus on Hungarian alternative artists’ periodicals of the 1970s-80s, is based on research in connection with my work cataloging ephemeral Hungarian art publications for the Museum of Modern Art in 2016. The art of the Hungarian neo-avantgarde has generated considerable attention in recent years, as attested by a well-received recent retrospective at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York entitled “With the Eyes of Others: Hungarian Artists of the Sixties and Seventies,” or two substantial consecutive exhibitions of the “Hejettes Szomlyazók” group in Budapest in 2017. While the corpus of critical literature analyzing and evaluating the art of the period is growing and the rediscovery of the most relevant artists – the majority of whom gained international recognition after having left Hungary – has been gaining momentum, a substantial amount of the ephemeral samizdat material still remains little known. My goal is to highlight some of the more obscure short-lived serial publications of the parallel world of art of the Socialist era, and to bring attention to the need of their preservation.
I presented a different version of this paper at the IFLA World Congress in Wroclaw in August 2017.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Christina Peter is Head of Acquisitions at the Frick Art Reference Library, an art research institution affiliated with The Frick Collection in New York. She holds an MA in Russian Language and Literature, English Language and Literature and in General and Applied Linguistics from the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, and an MS in Library Science from the Palmer Library School, Long Island University. In her current position she is responsible for East European collection development, original cataloging and authority work. She has given presentations on East European collections, art book publishing and cataloging issues at a variety of conferences. In 2013 she received a “Pro Cultura Hungarica” award for fostering cultural relations between Hungary and other countries. peter@frick.org