The most important events of the transition process and the most remarkable moments of the Pan-European Picnic and the opening of the border come to life at the exhibition of Ernő Horváth called ‘Carved Freedom’ and Barbara Zeidler’s exposition, titled ‘Where are you from?’; both opened jointly by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Budapest this Thursday.
Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice said at the opening ceremony that “the freedom won in 1989-1990 was not Romanian, Slovak, Polish or Hungarian freedom, but a Central European one. Participants of protests took the streets not only for their own, but for the freedom other nations as well, so this exhibition is about the re-birth of Central Europe too.”
As he said, concepts of freedom and democracy are filled with content by the members of a community and whereas before the change of regime these were goals to achieve; the 20 to 25 year-old young people who were born into these now re-interpret again these terms as an integral part of their lives. He stressed that “we Hungarians fought for our freedom; so it shall not be feared from us, as we know exactly what it means to live without freedom and democracy”.
Monika Balatoni, Minister of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice recalled that the photos have recorded the moments of important events in Hungarian history; in which the artist have displayed the masses longing to be free. As she emphasized, “in these pictures there is everything one might want to know about these years”.
Austrian ambassador Martin Eichtinger stressed that the incidents at the Hungarian-Austrian border were probably the most important milestones in the process of the reunification of Europe, which culminated in the EU-enlargement of 2004. This theme is the focus of the multimedia exhibition ‘Where are you from?’ by Barbara Zeidler.
The ambassador said that apart the exhibitions they organize more shared events in cooperation with Hungary, to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the border opening this year.
As a freelance photojournalist Ernő Horváth has documented almost every major political events of the change of regime. In his photos, the image of transition in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, the naturalism of the sometimes shocking events, the subjects’ feelings and the atmosphere of the era all emerge with harsh honesty.
(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)
