Interview with Artpool Cofounder Júlia Klaniczay on the 1984 Censored Exhibition Hungary Can Be Yours

Key facts

• The exhibition Hungary Can Be Yours/International Hungary was organized by György Galántai in January 1984 at the Young Artists’ Club in Budapest.
• It was banned by Communist authorities just before its opening, with a jury including András Baranyai and Ádám Kéri ratifying the censorship.
• The exhibition remained accessible for three days to invited guests despite the ban.
• It originated from Galántai’s Commonpress magazine issue on Hungary, with contributions from around a thousand mail art contacts.
• Problematic works included those by the Inconnu group, referencing Soviet colonization.
• The exhibition was first restaged in December 1989, featuring censored works and a roundtable discussion.
• Further reconstructions in 2000 and 2001 incorporated secret police reports at Artpool P60 and the Centralis Gallery.
• Júlia Klaniczay cofounded Artpool with Galántai in 1979, and the archive became the Artpool Art Research Center in 1992.