Hungarian University of Fine Arts Intermedia Program Faces Political Tensions Amid 25th Anniversary ARTMargins Dialogues

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, ARTMargins Online is facilitating discussions featuring curators and critics from Eastern Europe. A recent podcast episode with Szabolcs KissPál, the Department Chair at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, and Allan Siegel delves into the Intermedia Program. This initiative commenced in Fall 1990 under Miklós Peternák and began offering classes in September 1993. Siegel became involved in 2001, working on an Erasmus Intensive program alongside institutions in Poland, Germany, England, and Scotland. Current tensions arise from debates about aesthetics and pedagogy intertwined with political implications. Critics challenge the validity of "intermedia," while political entities seek to influence the institution, affecting cultural creators within Eastern Europe’s art landscape.