The Hungary L!ve contemporary Hungarian art festival on 23 to 29 May, organised for the second time in New York, concluded with resounding success. The event showcased several works by students of MOME Media Institute, including short films and a graphics exhibition.

The aim of the festival organised by the Hungary L!ve Art Foundation is to present the diversity of contemporary Hungarian culture also in New York. The Gesamtkunst event, which took place for the second time and over several days, attracted massive interest in the American metropolis. In addition to theatrical and musical productions, workshops, and professional discussions, the Hungary L!ve Festival also featured the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design as a major force shaping the Hungarian design scene, including works by students of the Animation, Media Design, and Graphic Design departments of MOME’s Media Institute, at the HERE Arts Center.

“We are pleased that MOME’s Media Institute has been invited to this inspiring and quality event, and feel that our exhibition and screenings belong at this festival designed to promote contemporary Hungarian culture and young artists”, said head of the MOME Media Institute, graphic designer and teacher Balázs Vargha. He also voiced his hopes that this might mark the beginning of a long-term collaboration, and perhaps in the future it will be possible to present works created specifically for the festival, with all the creators present. As he put it, “Participation at the Hungary L!ve Festival is a great opportunity for our Institute because it enables our students to make their debut to the public in New York, and also new ties to be forged with representatives and artists of other creative workshops.”
MOME Anim, the Animation department at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, is one of the most influential creative workshops and intellectual hubs of the Hungarian animation industry. Their selection of the best animated shorts of recent years was screened on the closing day. The short films by the MOME Media Design students screened on 29 May, despite the wide variety of subjects and genres, all share a critical attitude and social sensitivity, and included reflections on personal experiences or socio-historical phenomena, as well as documentaries and even a fictitious workshop. The MOMEnts capsule exhibition consisted of illustrations created by students of the MOME Graphic Design department and the Image Pro training programme, and explored the subject of everyday life in Central Eastern Europe.

Directors of the Animation short films:
Nadja Andrasev, Flóra Anna Buda, Hanna Carlson, Éva Darabos, Natália De Azevedo Teixeria Andrade, András Felvidéki Miklós, Melinda Kádár, Zsuzsanna Kreif, Orsolya Láng, Anna Katalin Lovrity, Marcell Mostoha, Anna Ottlik, Réka Anna Szakály, Anna Szöllősi, Borbála Zétényi

Creators of the Best of Media Design programme:
Mátyás Kálmán, Lili Mária László, Virág Tajti, Kálmán Tarr, Anna Török

Illustrators of the MOMEnts exhibition:
Béla Bócsi, Nóra Csendes, Gyöngyi Cseszneg, Júlia Jásdi, Berill Szax, Anna Szilágyi, Vivien Tallér


Index.hu’s report of the festival: https://index.hu/kultur/2022/06/12/ilyen-volt-a-masodik-hungary-live-festival-new-york/