Cultural relations - Hungary
Hungary has been designated as a ‘cultural priority country’ by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the period 2021 through 2028. This enables the Embassy to initiate and support dozens of projects throughout the year.
Projects
Scapino Ballet Rotterdam
Some of the highlights were the performances of the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in the National Dance Theater (September 2021) and the Concertgebouworkest in the Palace of the Arts (September 2022) in the framework of the Bridging Europe series.
Museum of Fine Arts
In April 2022, the exhibition “Between Hell and Paradise: the enigmatic world of Hieronymus Bosch” was on display in the Museum of Fine Arts.
Another highlight was the International Book Festival Budapest (September 2023), which had the Netherlands as guest country; twelve internationally renowned Dutch authors, who have all been recently translated in Hungarian, were present.
Light Festival in Pécs
That same year, the Netherlands was the country of honour during the Light Festival in Pécs.
Dutch exhibitions
Veszprém, being the European Capital of Culture in 2023, also hosted several Dutch exhibitions, including “Europe Archive”.
In addition, the Inota visual and music festival, organized at a former power plant, had a strong Dutch focus.
Sziget music festival
The annual Sziget music festival is another grand-scale event offering a host of bands and DJs from the Netherlands and visited by some twenty thousand Dutch youths each summer.
Every autumn, World Press Photo, an Amsterdam-based organisation founded in 1955, brings its annual exhibition to Budapest, attracting tens of thousands of visitors and extensive media attention.
ShortCutz Annual Audience Award
Each year in January, the ShortCutz Annual Audience Award screening takes place, showing a selection of the best short films produced in the Netherlands.
Following the tradition of the Leiden University, the Embassy invites an acclaimed Dutch author to deliver the yearly Cleveringa lecture in November.
Dutch Film Days
This year on 7-11 May, the Embassy organises Dutch Film Days in close collaboration with the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam at Toldi art cinema.
Design Without Borders exhibition
The annual Design Without Borders exhibition will be organized at Kiscelli Museum in Budapest with a special Dutch focus from 20 September until 28 October.
Finally, the Embassy regularly supports the Dutch faculties’ cultural activities at ELTE, Károli University and the University of Debrecen.
Our diverse programme calendar includes classical and pop music, contemporary dance, visual arts, film, photography, design and much more. The Embassy is also a member of the EUNIC Hungary Cluster, a body of EU cultural institutes organizing popular programmes like the Night of Literature and the European Language Cocktail Bar.