Ilona Németh's Eastern Sugar at Kunsthalle Bratislava Examines Post-Communist Industry Through Sugarloaf Production
From April 13 to July 15, 2018, Kunsthalle Bratislava hosted Ilona Németh's exhibition, Eastern Sugar, which transformed the venue into an interactive sugarloaf factory. Attendees engaged in the creation of sugar loaves at thirty-six different stations, with half of the products available for them to take home. The exhibition served as a critique of the decline of Slovakia's sugar industry following the end of communism, highlighting Eastern Sugar's takeover of state-owned factories. Németh worked alongside architect Marián Ravasz to design two distinct visitor experiences: one featuring a prototype Museum of Sugar and the other showcasing video installations with industry participants. The exhibition also displayed works by Harun Farocki, Jeremy Deller, and others, coinciding with political unrest, including Prime Minister Robert Fico's resignation amid protests following journalist Ján Kuciak's murder.
Key facts
- Exhibition ran from April 13 to July 15, 2018 at Kunsthalle Bratislava
- Visitors made sugarloaves at 36 stations using pestles and mortars
- Referenced Eastern Sugar company formed by Générale Sucrière and Tate & Lyle
- Included video interviews with former industry operators Christian Laur and Dušan Janíček
- Featured prototype Museum of Sugar by museologist Miroslav Eliáš
- Architectural redesign by Marián Ravasz and Plural Architects sealed central doorways
- Installed linoleum flooring from demolished Juhocukor factory in Dunajská Streda
- Exhibition coincided with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's resignation in March 2018
Entities
Artists
- Ilona Németh
- Jenő Németh
- Miroslav Eliáš
- Harun Farocki
- Jeremy Deller
- Lonnie Van Brummelen
- Siebren de Haan
- Anne Imhof
- Donald Judd
- Karl Marx
- Lewis Temple
- Ágnes Heller
- Zsófia Meller
- Viktor Orbán
- Miloš Chorvát
- Jane Rendell
- Ján Kuciak
- Martina Kušnírová
- Robert Fico
- Henry Tate
- Stephen Joseph Palickar
- Roy E. H. Mellor
- Lewis Sharpe Ware
- Briony Fer
- Edit András
- Lori Brown
- Tin Anstey
- Catharina Gabrielsson
- Siegfried Mortkowitz
- Emily Verla Bovino
Institutions
- Kunsthalle Bratislava
- Eastern Sugar
- Générale Sucrière
- Tate & Lyle
- Tate Gallery
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Art Gallery
- Slovak National Gallery
- Ernst Museum
- Moderna Museet
- KTH School of Architecture
- Plural Architects
- Cukru Production
- Slovenské cukrovary, s.r.o.
- AGRANA Group
- World Trade Organization
- European Union
- Smer-SD
- Hampshire Press
- Macmillan Press Ltd.
- John Wiley and Sons
- Yale University Press
- David Zwirner Books
- Routledge
- Politico
- ARTMargins Online
- Kalligram
Locations
- Bratislava
- Slovakia
- Dunajská Streda
- Hungary
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Austria
- London
- UK
- New York
- Hong Kong
- New Bedford
- Florida
- Trnava
- Budapest
- Brno
- Poznań
- Vienna
- Venice
- Pohronský Ruskov
- Sered'
- Dunajská Streda / Dunaszerdahely
- Námestie Slobody
- Freedom Square
- Berlin
- New Haven
- CT
- MN