Getty and Wende Museum Exhibition Challenges Cold War Hungarian Art Narratives

Key facts

• The exhibition 'Promote, Tolerate, Ban – Art and Culture in Cold War Hungary' was held in Los Angeles in 2018.
• It was organized by the Getty Research Institute and The Wende Museum of the Cold War.
• Curators Cristina Cuevas-Wolf and Isotta Poggi edited the accompanying catalog published by Getty Publications.
• The project examines the Kádár regime's '3 Ts' cultural policy (promote, tolerate, ban) post-1956.
• Displayed material included 1956 revolution art, Socialist Realist works, Socialist Modernist pieces, design objects, posters, and avant-garde art.
• The catalog features essays by Steven Mansbach, Dávid Fehér, Tibor Valuch, Katalin Cseh-Varga, and Géza Perneczky.
• The review critiques the project for limited scope and lack of deep analysis of Hungary's art institutional system.
• It contrasts with the 2018 volume 'Art in Hungary 1956-1980 – Doublespeak and Beyond,' which proposed a 'double cultural policy' narrative.