Temporary exhibitions

A Puzzle of Seventy-Seven + 7 Pieces – A Selection from the Collection of the Municipal Gallery

15 May 2025 – 31 January 2026

Curated by Anikó B. Nagy and Blanka Fábián

Location: 1st floor

The Baroque corridors and small rooms furnished with period pieces—characteristic spaces of the Kiscell Museum–provide a unique backdrop for the Municipal Gallery’s latest collection-based exhibition. A Puzzle of Seventy-Seven + 7 Pieces presents 77 pieces from our own collections together with 7 artworks invited from outside, spanning a wide range of periods and genres: paintings, prints, photographs, small sculptures, as well as objects linked to social campaigns—posters, badges, and pins.

As visitors move through the museum’s winding rooms, they encounter unexpected juxtapositions of historical and contemporary artworks. The exhibition establishes thematic relations and finely woven  networks between these pieces—an organizing principle that the title itself reflects: the works eventually fit together like a puzzle.

The section titled Hard Times is the core of the exhibition which explores artistic reflections on war, dictatorships, and historical traumas of the 20th and 21st centuries. Placing pro-regime and critical works side by side creates a tension in space and raises urgent questions concerning artistic responsibility, collaboration and resistance, as well as the relationship between ethics and aesthetics.

The section Labelled showcases works by artists who have faced marginalization, exclusion or rejection due to their ethnic, religious or sexual identity. In Women’s Hands, visitors find artworks that reflect on forms of labour traditionally associated with women—often invisible, undervalued or unpaid—ranging from idealizing to critical and explicitly feminist perspectives. The section Montage condenses the exhibition’s curatorial logic in essence, bringing together diverse eras and viewpoints in an associative link.

In the end we return to where we began— the section Óbuda and Kiscell, conclude the exhibition with works that depict the museum’s surroundings, through past and present lenses.

A Puzzle of Seventy-Seven + 7 Pieces does not aim to tell a single, uniform story. Instead, it offers  many parallel perspectives—in the spirit of contemporary museum thinking.

COMING SOON...

OCTOBER from silence to resistance

15th October 2025 - 25th January 2026

Curator: Lívia Páldi

Location: Oratory

Kateryna ALIINYK, ANNA Margit (1913-1991), THE ARCHIVE OF PUBLIC PROTEST (APP), Katya BUCHATSKA, CHILF Mária, Marlene DUMAS, EL- HASSAN Róza, Rachel FALLON- CSOSZÓ Gabriella, FERENCZY Noémi (1890-1957), FORGÁCH HANN Erzsébet (1897–1954), Lea GRUNDIG-LANGER (1906-1977), KASITZKY ILona (1910-1985), Gülsün KARAMUSTAFA (1946), Käthe KOLLWITZ (1872-1975), KÓSA (MOLNÁR) Mária (1899-1945), MAKRISZ Zizi (1924-2014), Paula REGO (1935-2022), Milica TOMIĆ 

Two years ago, at the Budapest Gallery, I curated On Violence, an exhibition that examined systemic and structural violence through its intersectional dimensions. It responded to the urgent need for deeper, more nuanced analyses by incorporating feminist and queer perspectives to investigate the mechanisms of patriarchal dominance embedded in collective culture and political economies. The continuing escalation of violence has compelled more artists to testify to the dire circumstances in which they, along with other cultural workers, sustain creative resistance—often despite attempts at silencing.

OCTOBER continues this trajectory, focusing on the entanglement of the political with the personal and intimate, with particular attention to women’s perspectives. Historical works are placed in dialogue with contemporary positions to foreground these connections.

The constellation of works examines the politicization of the private sphere—how personal experiences and observations, born of cataclysm, yield distinct insights into the impact of violence and the persistence of unhealed collective trauma. The exhibition raises questions of responsibility and individual agency while pointing toward the liberatory potential of artmaking and the forms and spaces of intimacy that can foster solidarity.

Structured as a non-linear “mind map”—elliptical and associative—OCTOBER proposes connections that reflect the perpetuity of political, social, and economic systems of oppression. Texts by Marguerite Duras, Charlotte Delbo, Virginie Despentes, Françoise Vergès, Grupa Spomenik, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Fadwa Tuqan, and others played an essential role in shaping OCTOBER and underscore the urgency of learning from historical anti-war and anti-fascist legacies in confronting today’s (post)-fascist ideologies and the reality of “contemporary–permanent–war.”

The narratives interwoven here encompass personal stories, survival journeys, acts of creative resistance, histories of remembrance, and the lasting effects of war—on landscapes and cities, and on bodies as living archives bearing the scars of years marked by atrocities and deprivation.

Here, the personal and the intimate serve as lenses through which broader political and social realities are experienced, examined, and understood. Art emerges as observation and documentation, as a coping mechanism, and as an act of resistance. It becomes a means to confront inequality, expose violations of human rights, and cultivate a dynamic exchange of identities and positions. A radical act of thought. A silent bearing witness. A gesture of empowerment. A fragile, unending exchange between inner lives and shared histories.

In its modest way, OCTOBER also pays tribute to German graphic artist and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945). Her legacy of social advocacy and anti-war resistance resonates profoundly today. Through her etchings and drawings, Kollwitz gave radical, empathetic form to the struggles of the working class and urban poor—especially underprivileged women—enduring hunger, illness, child mortality, and war. Her unwavering commitment to social justice makes her work a powerful point of departure for the exhibition’s inquiry.

Loaning Institutions and individuals: Balázs-Dénes Gyűjtemény; Jednostka, Varsaw; GÁL Csaba; Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln; Kontakt Collection, Vienna; Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (MSN); Somlói-Spengler Gyűjtemény; Szépművészeti Múzeum-Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest; Reszegi Judit gyűjteménye; THE ARCHIVE OF PUBLIC PROTEST (APP); VALKÓ Margit

The exhibition was made possible with support from the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.

COMING SOON...

21st Design Without Borders

International design and all-arts exhibition and event series

18 October – 16 November 2025

Founding curators: Szilvia Szigeti, textile artist, and Tamás Radnóti, interior designer

Location: Church Hall

In this year's edition of the 21-year-old exhibition and all-arts event series, works by nearly 180 artists from 18 countries are presented in thematic units. 2025 focuses on Dutch and Polish design, but also highlights the history and impact of bentwood furniture, unique textile works created at the intersection of design and contemporary music, and an international contemporary design and jewellery selection also awaits; this year even features a separate section for university and alumni works.

The name “Design Without Borders” refers to the internationality of the project, European cohesion, regional dialogue, with a particular emphasis on interoperability between different artistic disciplines and themes, and intergenerational dialogue. The works on display include mass-manufactured products, small-batch furniture and accessories, prototypes, experimental pieces, unique works on the borderline between design and fine arts, design and science, fine art, eco- and socially-conscious projects.

The exhibition features a separate unit for bentwood furniture: specifically the landmark brand Thonet, its 184-year history and its major role in the present day; a selection of László E. Szabó’s furniture collection and a taste of the technology’s latest examples. The Church Hall apse houses a series of digital prints by 20 textile designers, reflecting on the works of contemporary composers, in connection with the Transparent Sound Festival's CentriFUGA project; and a diverse international contemporary jewellery selection.

The exhibition is complemented by a rich programme. As part of this tradition, the day after the opening is the exhibition's professional day, during which participants can give 10-minute presentations in English, which can be followed in person and online.

The curatorial guided tours provide behind-the-scenes secrets and deeper insights into the selection.

To reinforce the all-arts experience, the 3,2,1 classical music mini-festival takes place for the fifth time this year, focusing on works by Polish composers – in line with the Polish focus.

design-without-borders.eu