University students from Szeged and Timișoara had the opportunity to learn about Szeged's street art as part of the Communities Through Art project. The students worked together with art historian Mihai Moldovan and filmmakers Alin Boeru and Mikulán Dávid, who documented the layers of street art in Szeged with photos and on-site video reports. The completed images were presented in an exhibition during a three-day multidisciplinary arts festival as part of the Grand Café 'Le Grand Opening' series of events, and Adél Kiss's mural was unveiled on the staircase of the café. The program included a dozen music, film, and street art events for those interested.
The Le Grand Opening during the preparations for the festival, students from Szeged and Timișoara were divided into three teams. Led by experts and artists, the workshops introduced them to the main spots of street art in Szeged and gave them a taste of the world of on-site reporting and photography. The students also had the opportunity to try their hand at communication planning and content production for cultural events. The results of the workshops were on display at the event exhibition at the Grand Café in Szeged.
Workshop
The aim of the workshop was to give participants experience of the opportunities for community building through organizing artistic events and how to prepare for a complex event. Participants were accompanied by various mentors over three days and gained experience in video recording, photography, street art tours, organization, and social media content creation through small group practical sessions.
The workshop mentors were Alin Boeru, film director, Dávid Mikulán, film director, Mihai Moldovan, art historian, and György Tóth, communications specialist.
The Street Art Tour Szeged the students and their mentors learned about the works presented below and their histories with the help of tour guide Csaba Gyuris.
Le Grand opening
The autumn opening of Grand Café Szeged was celebrated with a three-day multi-arts event.
The event is particularly relevant given that the Communities Through Art as part of the program, Szeged's iconic café received a new wall mural, which was officially unveiled during a dozen music, film, and street art events.
The following were presented at the joint opening ceremony of the event Adél Kiss mural on the staircase landing of the Grand Café, which reflects the spirit of the place, as well as a photo exhibition about street art locations in Szeged.
Adél Kiss, who graduated from design and art studies in Cluj-Napoca, has been working as an independent artist, graphic designer, and designer since the early 2000s. In addition to two dozen solo and even more group exhibitions, you can also admire her works on the walls of the Fény utca market in Budapest.
The photos were displayed in classic wall picture format, while video footage played continuously on a screen, showing what people on the street thought about the murals.
Movies
There was no shortage of award-winning domestic and international documentaries during the three days.
KIX (Hungarian-French-Croatian documentary, 92 minutes, 2024)
One of the greatest Hungarian documentaries of recent years, KIXcould be seen at the Grand Café Szeged reopening party. The film is a multifaceted journey through the 12 years of a young boy growing up in Budapest, during which the rowdy kid, Sanyi, becomes a public enemy in adulthood. It is the Hungarian version of Boyhood, set against the backdrop of urban poverty and neglect. After the film, those interested had the opportunity to talk with director Dávid Mikulán.
Faces and places (French documentary, 89 minutes, 2017)
Many consider Faces, Places to be one of the most important films of the 2010s, as evidenced by its Oscar nomination and Grand Prix at Cannes. Hipster photographer JR and French New Wave veteran director Agnès Varda form an unlikely duo as they travel the countryside taking pictures of locals for their street art project. Along the way, we get to know this strange pair better, and a wealth of local stories unfold before our eyes.
Why Do They Write on Walls? (Romanian documentary, 85 minutes, 2023)
One of the most original Romanian documentaries of recent years, and the first to focus on street art and graffiti. Through the murals of Bucharest, the film offers insight into this often misunderstood art form. Artists, urban planners, and passersby share their stories about what these works of art, interwoven with political protest and self-expression, mean to them. After the screening, there was a discussion with Alin Boeru, the film's director.
Balomania (Spanish-Danish documentary, 93 minutes, 2024)
70m tall paper Sylvester Stallone in the skies above Brazil? Sissel Morell Dargis' documentary follows members of the Brazilian balloon mafia, who are persecuted by the police for their art/hobby. Balomania shows how committed men risk their money and their lives for their community, trust, passion, freedom, and the survival of their art.
Concerts
A robust concert lineup ensured lively nightlife during the event.
Seedling concert (psychedelic punk from Budapest)
The Budapest Seedling brought a fresh splash of color to Szeged with their psychedelic, kraut-rock punk/hardcore sound. Pitchfork, the ultimate source for music listeners, took notice of them, and their latest album was released by the best label around, Trottel Recordsarrived from.
DJ Fonetik played music in the café before and after the concert. (post-punk disco).
DJ Fonetik a passionate, repeatedly relapsed record collector who first stood behind the mixing desk around twenty years ago, in the early 2000s, at the fondly remembered ChaChaCha in Kálvin Square. After the initial nu jazz craze, he spent many years spinning various genres of breakbeat, then promoted global bass dance music with the Ghetto Bazaar team in hundreds of blog posts, parties, mixes, and festivals.
Shān (industrial psych folk from Szeged)
The Szeged Shān a band that cannot be labeled with a single tag, they carry elements of rock, psychedelic industrial, and folk. Their songs are saturated with darkness and mysticism. On their recently released second album, Ultramarin, they have replaced their minimalist style with richer instrumentation, as the band, which originally started as a duo consisting of Gábor Lanczkor and Zoltán Lengyel, has expanded to include singer Zsófia Vincze.
EndrE (Szeged stoner/grunge)
The Szeged EndrE represents a unique splash of color in the world of stoner/doom/grunge, which plays with countless shades of gray. We're not just referring to the central role of female vocals. Just watch their David Lynch-inspired music video to get a little closer to their world of ideas.
Vedat Akdag and Szabola fusion ethno disco
The Turkish-born DJ, Vedat Akdağ he is an indispensable figure in Budapest's club scene, but he also feels at home at major festivals. Finally, Szeged got to hear what his hypnotic, psychedelic world is like. His partner was Szabola, also from Budapest.
Pozvakowski (experimental post rock from Budapest)
They started out in Győr in the early 2000s. They worked with Anima Sound System, made a video clip in honor of Bertalan Farkas, and recorded an album in a military facility. The pozvakowski returning to the roots of noise rock, it oscillates between post-rock, psychedelic rock, and experimental rock. The loud music is accompanied by a unique visual world. Analog projectors display images from archival documentaries behind/on top of them.
Infragandhi and Mate_Pap (dark disco, indie dance, house)
Infragandhi his DJ sets still hold dozens of surprises, even though he has been actively DJing since the early 2000s and has gotten audiences dancing thousands of times.
Public Street Art Tour
A free street art tour showcasing Szeged's alternative reality started at the Grand Café, where participants could learn about the city's iconic outdoor artworks.
VR exhibition, films
This program element was implemented at the Szeged Downtown Cinema.
China 21-22
The third work available as part of the VR screenings is 21–22 China, which is a stunning, wordless journey into the Anthropocene era, where human presence shapes the landscape across the skies of China.
Confrontation
The second work, Fresh Memories: The Look tells the story of the reality of war through the power of simple glances.
Plastisapiens
The Plastisapiens a calm yet astonishing journey into a future where humans and plastic become one. This 15-minute interactive VR experience runs on Quest 2 glasses and can be controlled with a controller or even with simple hand movements. The film's visuals are subtly animated, meditative, yet satirical in tone, guiding you into a speculative eco-fiction where plastic and wildlife merge and transform into new, hybrid creatures. A thought-provoking yet playful experience.
Communities Through Art
Communities Through Art is a cross-border collaboration initiated by the Anthropolis (HU) and the Citizenit (RO) which aims to strengthen mutual trust between the Romanian and Hungarian communities through artistic events, cultural events, and direct actions between people on both sides of the border.
The event is Interreg Romania-Hungary was made possible with the support of its program.
