Hungarian artists introduced themselves for the first time at the Designblok Festival in Prague

Excerpt from the Budapest Select exhibition at the Designblok Festival in Prague. Photo: HFDA / The Sparkle Content

An exhibition of Hungarian artists was presented for the first time at the Designblok festival in Prague, where visitors could see the objects of 15 Hungarian artists as part of the Budapest Select exhibition, the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (MDDÜ) informed MTI on Wednesday.

The Budapest Select exhibition in cooperation with the MDDÜ and the Liszt Institute in Prague was held between 4 and 8 October in the Czech capital 25. Desingblok International Design Festival, the agency wrote.
The strategic objectives of the MDDÜ include raising the profile of domestic creators, facilitating export activities and promoting opportunities for cooperation. To achieve these goals, MDDÜ participated in one of the most important creative industry events in the Central European region. He joined Designblok on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Liszt Institute in Prague.
Designblok has traditionally been implemented in several locations. The Budapest Select exhibition was held at the Trade Fair Palace, the largest exhibition space of the National Gallery Prague, in the Openstudio section, where product, fashion and jewellery designers, graphic designers and illustrators were introduced.
This time, the visitors could see the works of nationally and internationally acclaimed ceramicians, glass designers and sculptors as part of the installation building on the paraphrase of the journey. The works of the silicate industry appeared in wooden cages, which uniquely referred to the transportation of works of art, while also recalling memories lived during travels. The curator of the exhibition was Gáspár Bonta.
The briefing quotes Zsófia Jakab, CEO of MDDÜ, who said that one of the important pillars of the agency is a coordinated, professional appearance at major international design and fashion events and fairs.
This is the first time we have appeared in Prague, which has provided a new opportunity to meet Hungarian creativity, the best of the works of creators in the silicate industry – the CEO highlighted, adding that they consider it important to ensure such high-quality international appearances, which, through united and coordinated action, increase the visibility of Hungarian creators and contribute to the strategic objective of making Budapest the region’s fashion and design centre in the long term. He pointed out: international appearances also have significant country image-shaping power, as in many cases it is here that the profession and the wider public first meet the representatives of the creative industry, and through it the richness of the Hungarian cultural heritage.
The briefing also quotes Anita Forintos-Szűcs, deputy general manager of the agency, who said that the Budapest Select exhibition was extremely popular among young people in Prague.
“We find it crucial to reach out to young people in the agency, especially to Generation Z, for which national and international appearances provide a good opportunity. These occasions also play an educational role, as they make the wide spectrum of the Hungarian creative industry accessible and visible to a wide audience, and it is even possible to talk to the creators and get a glimpse into the background of the creation at such times", highlighted the Deputy General Director.
The Budapest Select exhibition was also visited by Rossana Orlandi, curator of the design LAB curated by Rossana Orlandi program, internationally renowned figure of contemporary design, and journalists of the cultural magazine Dolce Vita, which has been published in Slovakia and the Czech Republic for more than 20 years. In addition, there has been more interest from collectors – read the factsheet
Among the exhibitors were Tünde Ruzicska, Debóra Horák, Petra Szondi, Balázs Veres, Lilla Cséfalvay, Ádám Csaba Szabó, Hajnal Gyeviki, Zsuzsanna Deák, Sára Kele, Zsuzsanna Formanek, Bori Segesdi, Kyra László, Anita Monori, Ágnes Smetana and Attila Kertész. This time the creators appeared under the umbrella brand of MMDÜ Budapest Select.
Some of Budapest Select’s pieces will also be on display in Hungary at the 360 Design Budapest exhibition, which will take place between 17 and 22 October, the statement said.