Photography and the Visual Arts in Cold War Hungary

Exploring the relationship between state-sanctioned and restricted art practices

Project Details

Chemical Plant in Olefin Factory in Leninváros (after 1990 Tiszaújváros), 1978, Photo by Péter Horváth. Gelatin silver on orange paper, 7.1 x 10.5 in. Getty Research Institute, 2011.M.8, Box 3. © Péter Horváth

About

Goal

This research untangled the complex history of Hungary’s art production during the Cold War. The project situated Hungarian visual arts in the context of the Ministry of Culture’s informal policy known as the 3Ts: türni, tiltani, támogatni (promote, tolerate, ban). Focusing on state censorship, it reexamined the relationship between official and unofficial art cultures.