Imagine that time is a sense, just as taste or smell. Suppose that time is not a quantity but a quality. Einstein had hoped that order exists in the world. His famous quote (God does not play dice [with the universe]) expressed his conviction that there is indeed a law in the world, which applies to everything, and everyone and that can be answered through thinking and feeling. Eventually, he gave up hope. This performance, which merges into a single unified piece was created by artists working independently of each other in different locations at different times. Thus the process of creation itself became an integral part of the performance. In addition to those working in Budapest, Sopron, Zurich, Jerusalem and Amsterdam, 25 students of architecture also took part in the creation of the performance, coming up with plans inspired by the conceptual substance as well as the theatrical and choreographic phases of work.

(Supported by: Präsidialdepartement der Stadt Zürich, Pro Helvetia Budapest, Migros Kulturprozent,
Soros Foundation, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly)
http://www.artus.hu

subsequent performances: 21-23 October

Tadeusz Kantor staged The Dead Class in 1975, gaining international fame and acclaim with the performance. The Dead Class was the first piece in the Death Theatre cycle, which was followed among other plays by Wielopole, Wielopole, Artists go die and Today is my Birthday (the director passed away during the preparations of this latter play). Kantor defined the genre of these plays as personal testimonies, their original raw materials coming from his memoires. His goal with plays was not to create illusions or fiction, but to show truth about the most important and at the same time most real thing: death.

Following the film, discussion with András Pályi and Tamás Ascher in the Café Cinema next to the cinema.
(Organised jointly with the Polish Institute in Budapest)

The Contemporary Dance Theatre Association is present in the festival program with its selection for already the second time. The selection committee of the CDTA wished to provide the audience with an overview of productions from last season. The selection committee made every effort to pay utmost attention the programmes of institutions where contemporary dance performances are welcomed in order to be able to state: we selected these interesting, beautiful, sad, happy, humorous, spectacular, innovative performances to represent a year's abundant harvest. The five performances, taking place on two evenings, are not meant to be true portrayals as this is just a subjective selection with duets and solos, hour-long and five minute long performances, literature translated to motions, with live music and screenings travelling through time and conscience. Last season was also like this.

Members of the selection jury: Beáta Barda, Éva Buzásy, László Upor
http://www.elender.hu/kortanc/

21 October 8 p.m.    Bárka Színház, Stúdió
Latissimus Dorsi: The Tighter the Better...

21 October 9 p.m.    Bárka Színház, Vívóterem
Andrea Nagy: Four Pictures (3+1)
performed by Nina Umniakov
choreographed by Andrea Nagy
The choreography was awarded first prize by the Műhely foundation at the 2^nd SoloDance Festival, organised by the Orkesztika Foundation..
Réka Szabó: The Chosen - a legend in filtered light
music by Judit Bálványos, Ádám Jávorka, Zsolt Varga, Zsuzsa Vincze
choreographed and performed by: Gyula Berger, Ákos Hargitai, Márta Ladjánszki, Réka Szabó
directed by Réka Szabó
The performance won Best Dance Performance at the 7th Alternative Theater Festival.

22 October 8 p.m.    Bárka Színház, Stúdió
Latissimus Dorsi: The Tighter the Better...
choreographed and performed by Orsolya Nemes, Nóra Nemes
directed by Ádám Horgas

22 October 9 p.m.    Bárka Színház, Vívóterem
Még 1 Mozdulatszínház: Without Wings
performed by Tünde Hedvig Perfalvi, Márk Fenyves, István Pálosi
directed and choreographed by Márk Fenyves, István Pálosi
The performance was awarded first prize of the audience's jury at the 7th Alternative Theater Festival.
http://www.orkesztika.hu/
Márta Ladjánszki - Réka Szabó: What sort of tenderness
choreographed and performed by Márta Ladjánszki, Réka Szabó

The train station in Brasov, as train stations usually do, functioned as a monumental melting pot. It was a collection of city garbage, broken down socialist culture or the lack of culture while being at the same time a collection of sparkling Transylvanian variety and Central European folk art. In a simultaneous, parallel and complementary way one could See the wonderful memories of multiethnic Transylvania. Hungarians, Romanians, Saxons, the people of Avas with their pert straw hats, Jews and Huculs travelling to Bukovina. Armenians from Northern Transylvania waiting for their connections alongside Csángós from Moldavia. Gagauzes (Turks) waiting for an express train to Bucharest having to travel an entire day to reach their villages in the Tulcea region. Schwabian women from Temes county, given away by their characteristic bonnets. Finally, travelling Gypsies who Seemed to live their unbridled and happy lives at train stations. The performance is not traditional theatre but is rather a happening. The aim of this unique and unrepeatable performance is to portray Transylvania, the multicultural miracle equivalent with the cultural heritage of mankind that is rapidly being destroyed in the last years.

(Supported by the National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage)

Premier amour is not a stage performance but a short story in the first person, one of Beckett's first works written already in French. The play elaborates a man's peculiar passion for cemeteries. The hero testifies about his mother's death and his agitated attempts to find his place. Although the first sentences of Beckett's monologue imply that we will hear disarmingly frank sentences, before they are spoken, their meaning vanishes. Director Jean-Michel Meyer interpreted Beckett's play in a way that forces the audience to laugh every five minutes.

Performed also at the 2001 Theatre Olympics in Moscow.

Jest, the long-dead pirate captain is having a gloomy cup of tea in the depth of his castle. It is a special day: the captain is celebrating the anniversary of his death. A few invited good friends arrive to the celebration with gifts - to try the impossible while having tea: to kill the dead captain. But the old captain does not surrender to life; no tricks can catch him, the blade chips...! The captain fools around, fat and bald, old and bony, but still tries to laugh... While they argue over money, they are surely still alive... Or is this just a joke?

(Supported by the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly, Őrmező Community Centre, Artus Stúdió, French Institute in Budapest, Centre Choréographique National d'Orléans)
http://mu.mentha.hu/

performed by Attila Csabai, Krisztián Gergye, Júlia Drajkó, Eszter Rácz, Dániel Szász, Gizi Zarnóczai
costume-set-stage by Xabay team
lights by Gábor Tamás, Attila Csabai
techniques by Balázs Károlyi, Hans G. Beckern
sound engineer Ferenc Boudny
effects by Ágens
make-up by Edit Juhász
hair design by Betty Team
production assistant Barbara Ágnes Kohout
photo documentation of the production by Attila Soós
video by László Kiss
choreographed by Attila Csabai

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas were a truly classical duet, inseparable and unimaginable without each other just as Romeo and Juliet or Laurel and Hardy. Their personal relationship was an open revolt against the superficial interpretation of Christian moral values while remaining loyal to its substance and severity. In cyberspace, today's 'Wonderland' antique hetaeras or Japanese geishas living in unison with spirituality, education and sensuality are replaced by artificial starts created by computers, who become objects of love and entertainment for today's man. Horrible "babes", masks that spill out tasteless and colourless "digital seaweed" instead of fragrant straw. Poor Gertrude and Alice, rich variety of symbols, what will become of you in today's Wonderland?

(Supported by Szkéné Színház, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Soros Foundation, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly, Műhely Foundation, Xabay team, Dance Europe Culture Project, Wies B. Foundation)
http://www.szkene.hu/

Imagine a Japanese capsule-hotel: sleeping quarters like a beehive, spaceship and adjoining communal space (stage, forum, play room, dining hall, etc). This is the environment being built in October in the City Theater. Its inhabitants will be artists. Unemployed artists, actors, painters, film makers, video artists, musicians with internet, cameras, a screen in each capsule, communication centre, video screen, with equipment necessary for creation. Creations born at there will be presented spontaneously. All activity here is theatre. This is the space and spirit behind the first performance of the City Theatre:

Anyone who says this opera is scandalous is probably right. All fashionable taboos (private, political, scientific or religious) are revealed here. Operas always deal with exceptionally timely topics of their time. Traviata or Carmen was just as scandalous and shocking in its time as many 20^th century masterpieces are today.
"Resurrection is a triumph of post-modern eclecticism, filled with gleefully colliding historical styles that are never deployed haphazardly. A chamber orchestra, vocal soloists and a rock band are called on to perform music that ranges from angular atonality to parodies of Bachian chorales, from Edwardian ballads to 1960's rock. [...] Mr. Davies somehow manages to turn these diverse idioms to the service of compelling theatre, and even to give the impression of structural coherence." (The New York Times)
(Co-produced by Sziget Cultural Managing Office and the Budapest Autumn Festival. Supported by: The British Council, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Roland Intermusica Ltd.)

Hungarian folk dance is an infinite treasure box for choreographers willing to experiment. From year to year, one Sees innovative and memorable choreographies that handle and re-interpret archaic elements in exciting ways. The evening, which by now has become a staple in the festival programme, is a wonderful opportunity to See the most recent performances created in this spirit.

(Organised by the György Martin Folk-dance Association)

Assembly of Central European Independent Theatres
organised in co-operation with Trafó - House of Contemporary Arts and the Chalk Circle Theatre

"There is nothing more powerful than your sins. Come with us! Only worse may follow!" (Lorenzo Da Ponte)

"The events of love life are so insignificant that one faces enormous difficulties in recording or telling them. They only exist due to their consequences, but these consequences are fatal. Therefore we can only talk about "the diary of aftermath's" on the stage of love life: the diary of our sorrows, joys, explanations, arguments and weaknesses. The story itself is over, as the only event in it was infatuation. The spell that was cast on me, and its aftermath's that I re-live. My private local legend, my sacred, embalmed story hidden from all actions that I perform solemnly for myself." (László Hudi)

(Supported by Avignon Festival, deSingel - Antwerpen, The Berlin Festspiele, sophiensaele - Berlin, THEOREM - Avignon, Grand Theatre - Groningen, Trafó - House of Contemporary Arts, Soros Foundation, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly)
subsequent performance: 24 October
http://www.trafo.hu/

The Chalk Circle Theatre's Woyzeck performance is an experiment. We try to discover the limits of ourselves and our theatrical means, the new means of theatrical expression. Our goal is not the reconstruction of Büchner's fragment but its re-creation in our own language. It is more important to discover the story's deep undercurrents and its hidden meaning that to simply tell it. The performance was preceded by a workshop: we developed a few scenes using Büchner's text and Attila József's poems based on exercises inspired by the huge and labyrinthine buildings of the Monostor fortress in Komárom. In the church ruins in Zsámbék we staged a few scenes already with the final cast. The closed theatre version of the play was premiered in Berlin, with subsequent premieres in Paris and Budapest.

The genre of this performance is a workers' circus. In our minds, Woyzeck is a worker, the small man thrown into the world, defenceless in all fundamental aspects of his existence. We named it a circus because we tried to create unforeSeeable moments in theatre where anything may happen, just as in the circus, in the silence following the roll of the drums.

(Co-produced by Monostori Erőd Hadkultúra Kht, Saturdays in Zsámbék, Theater der Remscheiddel, sophiensaele - Berlin and MC93 Bobigny. Supported by National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Soros Foundation)
subsequent performances: 25-28 October
http://www.kretakor.hu

The play, considered a cult performance in Bulgaria, is not a truthful adaptation of the original novel. The drama's creators arbitrarily emphasised elements they had deemed important. Western Europeans tend to find the actors' performance similar to Monty Pythons shows, because of portraying thirty characters alongside Satan and Berlioz with numerous Margaritas and Bulgakov himself also appearing on stage. The writer, who is out of tune, is assisted in finding the plot by a choir organised from his characters -- while socialism is being steadily built.

The home of La Strada (Ulitzata) theatre group in Sofia is the building of the Bulgarian Army Theatre. This coexistence is portrayed in the curiously dramatised plot of The Master and Margarita and the same environment nods back at us in the mood of Jam Session. The hour-long strange improvised comedy with no story brings together in a strong association improvised jam sessions with making marmalade. (The original title of the play in Bulgarian is Marmalade.)

The prominent group in Bulgarian independent theatre is a permanent participant at the Avignon Festival, the Spektakel in Zurich and other noted theatre festivals. These two plays are only appetisers, of course to convince us: their art is at least as characteristically Bulgarian as it is international.

"Bulgarian theatre will no longer be what it used to be before Tedi (Stefan) Moskov, Maya Novosselska and Krastiu Lafanazov appeared on stage. They irreversibly destroyed its serious traditions, its dependence on literary text and rationality when they introduced on stage joyful unrestrained play, irony and self-mockery." (Kamelia Nikolova, Koultura, 1996)

(Supported by National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Soros Foundation.)
http://www.trafo.hu/

Four professional actors are the nucleus of the group, formed in 1992. They live in a small village with their director. When they stage a larger performance, they invite actors from other Polish theatrical companies. Their leader, Zbigniew Szumski director, stage designer and playwright to all their plays essentially defines the group's activities and spirit. The starting point for the group's performances are his graphics, sketches and plans: the members of the group use association, improvisation to construct theatrical "responses" to pieces of fine art. The drama eventually unites the playwright's ideas and the actors' creativity, merging acting and stage design into one. The unique vocabulary of their plays is enriched by absurd humour and surrealism. The performance presented here portrays the story of human ridicule, alienage and our degrees of susceptibility to this. All this on a stage that slowly turns into a playground.

http://www.trafo.hu/

What is Bulgarian theatre like? What is Bulgarian independent theatre like? And what about the Polish? Is there any similarity between La Strada, Cinema, Mozgó Ház Társulás and the Chalk Circle Theater?

Existence as independent theatre is not only a structural fact but also a sort of aesthetic concept. One who is independent carries out "a different type" of theatre than colleagues in stone theatres, performs at locations other than what the audience would expect - so many think. Do artists themselves See it this way?

Issues pertaining to structural organisation, institutional context cannot be separated from creative artistic work. The question posed to foreign and Hungarian participants of the round-table discussion is to what extend does this affect their work, how much does it influence their possibilities and means? Does it have any influence over their productions?

30 October 4 p.m.    Trafó
Round-table discussion about the independent theatres of the region
Performances followed by meeting with actors
24 October Mozgó Ház Társulás
26 October Chalk Circle Theatre
27 October La Strada (Ulitzata)
30 October Teatr Cinema

6^th Studio Theatre Days of the Soros Foundation

"It is the sixth occasion that productions supported (also) by the Soros Foundation are presented. As in previous years, twelve productions found to be the best by curators and jury make up the programme of Studio Theatre Days. The dozen productions are from a wide spectrum of theatrical endeavours: we'll See world premieres of Hungarian plays and Hungarian premieres of Canadian drama, classical tragedy as well as modern interpretation of novels, stories for the young and old, theatrical dance compositions and intimate dance drama - the crème de la crème of almost a hundred supported performances. This array is intended to provide a sense of Hungarian experimental/alternative theatre workshops' artistic pioneer efforts while giving substantial and enjoyable entertainment to fans of special adventures." (István Nánay)

www.soros.hu

To Echo (1990)
Capriccio Disciplinato (1972)
Inkantation (2000)
Three Dragoons Playing a Game of Dice (1978)
Movimento cromatico dissimulato (1972)
Novellette (1981)
Questions to Hillel (1996)

" I have often contemplated what was Nature's intent by making sure that there are no two human beings with the same set of fingerprints. Beyond ensuring that everyone is unique and unrepeatable, perhaps Nature also wished to give warning that our fate, our task in the world is also unique? Is it possible that copying and epigony are false goals? When I pose these questions, I am of course not talking about the pursuit for originality, but about finding our own way. This can perhaps be achieved by making sure whether the "Daemon" (as Socrates put it) living deep within our soul nods approvingly to our acts. A consistent effort with this strength of mind will lead to the creation of our personal styles in life and art. Therefore, style is a result of assuming ownership for individual ways, individual perspectives, and not of an image created wilfully and conscientiously. It reveals itself gradually while its basic characteristics begin to show early. Maybe this is why it is interesting to look at the early works of an artist as well, just as much it is instructive to determine whether these works are sustainable from a perspective of thirty years away... This latter aspect is especially important for me because I want to prove through this that the musical "Omnipotent' of the time was mistaken when assessing their quality and significance." (József Sári)
(Organised in co-operation with the Széchenyi Academy of Arts and Literature. Supported by SZIMA Foundation, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly, Editio Musica Budapest, ARTISJUS Music Foundation, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage)
http://www.bmc.hu/sari/)

1. Radetzky marsh
2. Between two wars
3. The second war
4. One sentence about tyranny
5. Nineteen-fifty six
6. Somehow it doesn't ...
7. The last decade

The poets: Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Gyula Illyés, Attila József, Dezső Kosztolányi, László Nagy, Ottó Orbán, János Pilinszky, Miklós Radnóti, Lőrinc Szabó, Dezső Tandori, István Vas

János Decsényi's first oratorio (Ancient Hungarian texts, 1991) encompasses nine centuries from the legend of Gellért to József Eötvös. The second oratorio (Memorial, 1998) portrays the story of a bourgeois family from Pest (his own family) in the 20^th century. The third oratorio, to be presented at its premiere, also recalls this century filled - for so many of us -- with many tragedies, many sorrows and few joys. The lines of 29 poems from twelve poets (the composer's spokesmen) are all bearers of musical-dramatic ideas in their entirety. The oratorio has no story as history has none either, there are only events. The composer dedicates his piece to the memory of his teachers Rezső Sugár and Endre Szervánszky.

The composer accomplishes an old wish at his irregular evening. He breaks away from the static practice of "stage-audience" at traditional concerts. Upon entry, the audience does not See a stage at all. The rows of seats are Seemingly in disorder, but upon inspection it turns out that they have been carefully rearranged and placed to encircle sculptures created for the performance by Rezső Móder. Next all each sculpture, there are stands for music sheets and musicians. The audience can take a look at the sculptures and performers and selects a chair close to a favourite piece or musician. Instrument solos that are joined together with tutti from the entire ensemble accompany every sculpture. The music is not an illustration to the sculptures but rather provokes free associations. As a consequence of the piece's structure and the few performing musicians, contributors change places several times, move around while the audience may also change their place in order to enjoy a solo from up close - this way, reception of the performance also becomes non-static.

Composer Gyula Fekete, recipient of the 2001 Erkel-award puts forth his works from the past thirteen years. Fekete, a student of Attila Bozay at the Academy of Music also considers Emil Petrovics and János Vajda as his mentors. As a composer, he follows a traditional style (made famous by the names of János Vajda, György Orbán, Miklós Csemiczky and György Selmeczi) that returns to the stylistic elements of late romanticism and the early 1900s. From 1990 Fekete spent six years in the United States on a post-graduate scholarship. He received a master's degree from the music faculty of the Roosevelt University in Chicago, then went on to obtain a doctoral degree at North Western University in Evanston. Since 1997, he has been teaching at the composition department at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. The same year brought the world premiere in Philadelphia of his cantata composed in memoriam Hanna Szenes. Hungarian audiences heard the piece one year later in the Dohány street synagogue as a part of the Budapest Autumn Festival.

(Supported by the Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly, European Cultural Foundation, Edition Brassimum Budapest)
http://www.bmc.hu/fekete/

The Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest joined in an independent artistic programme. The programme provided an opportunity for four young composers to create a piece for a 16-member strings orchestra of both French and Hungarian musicians. The concert in Paris is scheduled for 25 October at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in the framework of the MAGYart - year of Hungarian culture in France.

(Joint programme of Hungarofest, Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and the French Insitute in Budapest. Supported by the National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage.)
http://www.ambafrance.hu/institut/

Iannis Xenakis, one of the foremost composers of the 20^th century passed away this February. His oeuvre, which includes mathematics and architecture as well as music, became inevitable no matter how his critics See it. Percussion music in particular has a lot to thank Xenakis. Subsequent to his work Persephassa composed in 1969 and performed a few years ago in the Institute of Italian culture, he composed a dozen pieces for various formations: from solo to sextet, often combined with other instruments or sound vocals.

http://www.bmc.hu/amadinda/

Brass in Five, celebrating its tenth anniversary commemorates 80-year old András Szőllősy with a special musical stream constructed from the works of András Szőllősy, György Kurtág and József Sári. The hour-long continuous miniature music chain is intended to create a new quality: a composed concert.

(Supported by the Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly)
http://www.brass5.hu/

Ferenc Liszt: Études d' exécution transcendante no. 1. - Preludio
         György Ligeti: Étude No. 1. "Désordre"
Ferenc Liszt: Études d' exécution transcendante no. 2.
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 2. "Cordes vides"
Ferenc Liszt: Études d' exécution transcendante no. 3. - Paysage
Claude Debussy: Étude pour les Tierces
Claude Debussy: Étude pour les Sixtes
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 7. "Galamb borong"
Ferenc Liszt: Konzertetüde in D-flat Major - Waldesrauschen
Alexander Scriabin: Étude in F-sharp Major op. 42. no. 3.
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 10. "Der Zauberlehrling"
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 6. "Automne Varsovie"
Ferenc Liszt: Études d' exécution transcendante no. 12. - Chasse neige
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 5. "Arc-en-ciel"
Alexander Scriabin: Étude in A-flat Major op. 8. no. 8.
Alexander Scriabin: Étude op. 65. no. 2.
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 13. "L' escalier du diable"
         György Ligeti: Étude no. 14. "Columna infinită"

"Despite every influence on me, my etudes are neither following the traditions of Chopin or Debussy, or those of any African or jazz music, and nor are they mathematical constructions. They are not avant-garde, or traditional, post-modern, tonal or atonal. They are but virtuosic pieces written for the piano, etudes as far as the genre or composition is concerned. Like a living organism, they grow from a simple intellectual Seed into the most complicated forms." (György Ligeti)

"The topical and cultural synthesis, the striking presence of archaic elements is the main characteristic of ethno music in this year's festival. Although the cultural orientation of the nine productions is easily recognisable even for lay ears, and the source regions of the music are apparent, all of them are characteristic and individual approaches to the Hungarian trends in world music. Romany Rota is Gypsy, Oregano is Balkans, Fianna is Irish and Celtic in its traditions. The Soul Travel production of Főnix Company is reminiscent of Asian shamanistic ritual music, FolkEstra of Balkans and jazz, Chalaban of Moroccan elements with rock music. Samsara is the best in indo-jazz in Hungary, while traditional Hungarian songs pair up with Makám's characteristic sound in the new project of Irén Lovász. Arasinda, Yasmina and Ghawase recall the world of Turkish and Arab music and belly-dancing. (Zoltán Krulik)
(Supported by the Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage)
http://www.fono.hu

István Grencsó started his career in 1979 with the Masina group, the played in various formations with Mihály Dresch and György Szabados. In 1985 he founded the still existing Grencsó Kollektíva, but he regularly appears on stage with Makám and Kampec Dolores. His free musical style, independent of trends, fashions and schools, his independent thinking and his relationship with his instrument ranks him among the most prominent musicians in jazz. Following his earlier free style work, in the last years he dedicated an album to Thelonius Monk and immersed himself in the big band possibilities of Villa Negra theme. Two trio-CDs followed, Black Bread (Fekete kenyér) and Mystery (Rejtély) building on old Hungarian hits. The album 7 Songs to the last Mohicans (7 ének az utolsó mohikánoknak) of Grencsó Kollektíva Plusz, with ten musicians, was released in the beginning of 2001. Here he breaks with radically free elements, this album can be considered to be more receivable than many of his previous records, but this change does not affect the quality of his music.

http://www.bahia.hu/zenekar.phtml?id=123

 Curator: Jaroslaw Suchan
Opening: 19 October 6 p.m.
Opening of the Budapest Autumn Festival by Gábor Demszky mayor

Tadeusz Kantor's significance can be likened to that of Joseph Beuys or Andy Warhol. He created a new world in theatre, was an active participants in neo-avant-garde revolts, a theoretician, anti-painter, ironic conceptualist - to name only a few of his faces. Happenings, actions and para-conceptual works are in the centre of the exhibition Tadeusz Kantor.Impossible, therefore all of Kantor's activities that question traditional ideas about art, artwork and exhibitions. The period starts with Ekspozycja popularna (popular exhibition, Krzysztofory Gallery, Krakow, 1963) and ends with the exhibition Wsztystko wisi na włosku (It hangs by a single hair, Foksal Gallery, Warsaw 1973). This uncertain and indefinite period was also the time of discoveries with attempts of identification - the significance of which became evident only later. After breaking away from routine artistic behaviour, Kantor had the courage to turn towards unknown roads, as he said: to reach the limits of the impossible. Once he completed these travels, he created his most important work: The Dead Class and Wielopole, Wielopole. Today Kantor's work is shown with the help of visual culture (large-scale computer printers, photos, video and slide shows, sound and texts).

The exhibition was organised by Jaroslaw Suchan and first displayed in the Bunkier Sztuki Art Gallery in Krakow, then in the Zamek Ujazdowski Center for the Contemporary Arts in Warsaw.

(Organised jointly by the Ludwig Museum Budapest - Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Polish Institute in Budapest, the Budapest Autumn Festival and the Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow. Supported by National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage Protektorwerk Hungária Ltd., Municipal Government of Krakow)
http://www.c3.hu/~ludwig/ , http://www.bunkier.com.pl/kantor/

Artpool's tenth open-air exhibition displays the autumn poems of Matsuo Basho, foremost master and creator of artistic haiku in the 17^th century. The poems are translated by Ákos Fodor, whose 20^th century haikus are also exhibited.

"Haiku turns two people poets, just like love makes two people lovers. The author is neither a shaman, nor a rhetor or a surgeon. Nor is the reader inferior, enduring or inert. Meeting in this focus, they bond, .heal and get healed, and, as long as they so desire, become something of a Third nature. It is an ascetic form, a protean genre, vivid mentality that creates rather than consumes time and space. Those who can rejoin and touch each other even for a single haiku moment are blissful." (Ákos Fodor)

http://www.artpool.hu/

"As haiku is not the offspring of 17 syllables but a that of the moment, "fluxus" (flow) of fluid moments, writes Ken Friedman. "Concept art was first materialised with fluxus although it had antecedents centuries before." In fluxus activity, behaviour (attitude) and relationship with life is close to Zen-exercises, koans and the moments of haiku. The impossible reality of fluxus is formed in genre-less genres (intermedia) and the living, mid-state ephemeral actions (event). Concept art that wants to surpass fluxus expands the territory of impossible realism with paradox and tautological research." (György Galántai)
http://www.artpool.hu/

 Opening: 20 October 3:30 p.m.  Deák téri Millenniumi Földalatti Vasút Múzeum

21 October 3:30 p.m.     Trafó
Discussion with participating artists and the organisers

The project's conceivers imply that the space in the metro could be considered a metaphor. Moving pictures are key figures in contemporary art just as in everyday life. Audiences will See videos from Hungarian and foreign artists at selected metro stations during the festival. These works represent a wide spectrum of contemporary media art while taking into consideration the innocence of passengers. Basically all people of the city pass through metro stations - now they will be met by surprising visual experiences instead of the empty minutes of waiting for the train.

(Supported by Budapest Transport Co., Budapest Municipal Government, NEC, Soros Foundation, Soros Non-profit Services Center, Allianz Cultural Foundation, Trafó - House of Contemporary Arts, Goethe-Institut Budapest, French Institute in Budapest, The British Council, Pro Helvetia Budapest, Young Artists' Studio Association)
www.videospace.c3.hu/csomopont

 Opening: 20 October 5 p.m.

Photography underwent significant changes in the last decade. Affected by fine art, photographers' perspective transformed: their works are focused less on depicting the general and devote more efforts to discovering what is unique and on the periphery. After seventeen years of collecting works, Frac Basse-Normandie - Caen put together a collection that presents accurately defined and related trends.

(Organised jointly with the French Institute in Budapest. Supported by the National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, AFAA)
http://www.mucsarnok.hu/ , http://www.ambafrance.hu/institut/

 Opening: 20 October 6:30 p.m.
Opening of the exhibition by István Antal

The members of the legendary A.E. Bizottság, one of the most exciting underground music bands of the 80's once again take part in a joint exhibition in the Budapest Galéria Kiállítóház. A few works reminiscent of the old days supplement the artists' most recent works. A home-produced CD is also published with new and so far unheard music. After the musical performance following the exhibition's opening comes a true curiosity: the showing of Bence Fazekas's lost and found film about the 1982 Bizottság concert at the University Theatre.

Mini Media Interrational
(See under Ede Festival)

Video documentation of a number of theatre performances of Tadeusz Kantor, organised by the Intermedia Department, are screened at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Screenings will be followed by discussions on Tadeusz Kantor and contemporary (Hungarian) art.

The Foundation for Art in Transylvania was founded in March 1988 with the aim of linking artists living and working in Transylvania to cultural life in Hungary. Fine art camps hold a prominent place in the process of strengthening cultural cohesion. Visitors in Budapest will See works by Hungarian artists from Transylvania, Ruthenia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia and Slovenia created at the artistic workshop in Hortobágy.

With its project launched last autumn, Stúdió Galéria wished to create an open forum where topical artistic issues could be discussed. A series of exhibitions, thematic roundtable discussions and presentations from foreign artists on scholarship is organised. The most emphasised element of the project is the presentation of international projects organised by the Stúdió.

Topics:

• Jason Coburn London-based artist's project and video - discussion on the relationship of fine art and professional magazines
• The work of Aletta Jog Dutch artist - international trends in video art, home-movie
• Presentations and slide show by the Hungarian participants of the London-Budapest exhibition and exchange program ((Szabolcs KissPál, Anikó Szövényi)
• Experiences from the Venice Biennale - round-table discussion (Guest: Júlia Fabényi the exhibition's curator)
• Hungarian participants of the ORESTE 4 workshop (Montescaglioso, Italy, 2001) (guest: Cesare Pietroiusti)

(Supported by the Soros Foundation, Committee on Culture of the Metropolitan Assembly)
http://studio.c3.hu

 Opening: 25 October 5 p.m.

Opening of the exhibition by Zsuzsa Dárdai
works on display from Cecere, Mascia, Pilone, Pinna, Zangara, Gall, Ézsiás, Horváth, Kovács, Haász

The creations, painting-objects of MADI (Movement, Abstraction, Dimension, Invention) artists finely balance between plane and space. These space plastic art pieces are characterised by articulation and playful mobility. MADI 'coplanal', this special characteristic is about free Cupertino with planes, which (contrary to surfaces restricted to square-shaped canvases) move freely in space. MADI painting-object and space-plastic art communicates actively with the viewer, compels the eye to move and livens up creativity. All visitors open to playfulness, innovation and interactivity are welcome at the exhibition of the works of five Italian and five Hungarian artists.

9, 16, 23, 30 November 4 p.m.
screenings on Tadeusz Kantor and the Cricot 2 Theatre:
Detailed information in the Ludwig Museum

Co-curators: Nina Czegledy, Vera Baksa-Soós, Marina Grzinic;

Assistant curator: Kata Krasznahorkai

25 October 7 p.m.    Ludwig Múzeum
Digitized Bodies - book and CD premiere
Introduction by: Jean Gagnon, director of the Daniel Langlois Foundation in Montreal

25 October 8 p.m.    Ludwig Múzeum
Would You Digitalize Your Soul? - performance by Tanja Ostojić

26 October 10 a.m.-6 p.m.   Francia Intézet
BIO_MEDIA_FORUM - symposium
Participants: Vera Baksa-Soós, Nina Czegledy, Kim Sawchuk, Tibor Vámos, Oliver Ressler, Erika Katalina Pásztor, Nell Tenhaaf, Eric Fong, Balázs Beöthy, Jill Scott, Peter Ride, Gusztáv Hámos, Rudolf Frieling, Sara Diamond, Marina Grzinic, Antal Lakner
(Supported by the Canadian Embassy, Ludwig Museum Budapest -Museum of Contemporary Arts, French Institute in Budapest, Goethe-Institut Budapest, Austrian Cultural Institute, Japan Foundation)

26 October 8 p.m.     Francia Intézet
Corporeal - performance by Atau Tanaka

27 October 10 a.m.    Ludwig Múzeum
Wired Body / Mediated Body - selection from international video works
Curators: Nina Czegledy, Vera Baksa-Soós, Marina Grzinic

29 October 10 a.m.-5 p.m.   C3
Code Zebra - workshop of Sara Diamond

31 October 6 p.m.    Ludwig Múzeum
Code Zebra - performance by Sara Diamond

The explosive advancement of bio-technical sciences and digital technology and their relationship to art has not been presented yet in Hungary, although the so-called post-biological body and its presentation in various artistic genres has been the subject of several recent exhibitions, books, TV shows, conferences and symposia. The Digitized Bodies / Virtual Spectacles project's primary goal is to establish interdisciplinary communication. Secondly, the project aims to present works that show the transformation of our ideas about the human body as a result of medical technology. The exhibition and the entire project Seek answers to the same question: how do artists, theoreticians and scientists view our transforming ideas and the digitalisation of our culture, which is a result of the rapid development of various technologies.

(Supported by C3 Centre for Culture and Communication Foundation, Ars Wonderland Studio Ltd., Toronto Arts Council, Foreign Affairs Ministry of Canada, Toldi cinema, Budacolor Ltd., Canada Council, InterAccess, Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, Phoenix Community Works Foundation, Hungarian Radio)
http://www.c3.hu/~ludwig/

 Concert of self-made instruments, slide show with live music

Light becomes painting at the first joint exhibition of Hungarian artists living and working in Berlin since the 80's. Visitors will See simple motives and natural objects illuminated with coloured light. Stone sculptures and paper cut-outs from Nemesi, Bori's drawings and sand sculptures are displayed in lighting that gives a new meaning. Bori's own construction, a band of crickets operated by solar powered motors is also on display: the insect imitations constructed out of colourful cardboard and tin boxes and small everyday articles play music in the special place.

http://www.goethe.de/ms/bud/unindex.htm

In the art of the eighties, mail art was what the unlimited World Wide Web is for us today. Contrary to other forms of "art", mail art was neither a medium, nor a trend, but instead a chaotic, random interactive surface open to free movement that (theoretically) could only be governed by postal restrictions.

György Galántai originally intended the materials of the "Hungary Can Be Yours/International Hungary" exhibition for the Hungary-issue of Commonpress mail art magazine and it only became an exhibition at the request of the Young Artists' Club. In Orwell's year, in the era of the "happiest barrack", the image flowing from the works of 46 Hungarian and 58 artists from 18 countries did not fit the current country image and was banned by the jury at the last minute. In the past few years, documents from the Hungarian internal security service III/III were disclosed in the archives of the Historical Office that provide a detailed description and interpretation/evaluation of the works of the 1984 exhibition and its opening events. Researchers could already See these documents at Artpool P60 in April 2000.The present exhibition is an opportunity for wider audiences to See the original artwork, photo and video recordings taken at the opening, the report of the informer about the event, as well as documents from the 1989 reconstruction—all in the context of the 1984 "official country image".

(Organised jointly by the Artpool Art Research Center and the Galeria Centralis)
http://www.osa.ceu.hu/galeria/index_hu/ , http://www.artpool.hu/

The network video installation projected on the walls is the elaboration in three parts of an everyday story. Montage elements, changeable daily with a computer, create a re-liveable virtual experience for the viewer.

 4 p.m.  The Banff Center from Canada - lecture by Sara Diamond

The C3 Foundation regularly provides an opportunity for Hungarian audiences to gain insight into the functioning of progressive, new types of media institutions from around the world. Sara Diamond, director of the art centre in Banff presents the Canadian media centre's programmes and productions together with a screening.

 6 p.m. Media Archaeology - premiere of the new WEB project of C3

In addition to supporting and presenting contemporary media art, C3 is also involved in discovering the archaeology of media. This year C3 presents this work to the public through building a joint web site. The site is related to the Media history and the sources of Hungarian media art collection, a research of the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts Intermedia Department, supported by the National Scientific Research Fund.

See Digitized Bodies for the following programmes:

29. October 10 a.m.   C3
Code Zebra - workshop of Sara Diamond

31. October 6 p.m.    Ludwig Múzeum
Code Zebra - performance by Sara Diamond

 Opening: 30 October 7 p.m.

Since there is practically no arts market in the Czech Republic, Prague artists are forced to face numerous existential challenges. Nevertheless, several dozens of students graduate every year in the Academy of Fine Arts. Despite of the unfavourable conditions, artists of the new generation are able to create works worthy of international acclaim. The exhibition of Umelec magazine presents an overview of the latest trends in Czech contemporary fine art. The Prague-based Umelec contemporary arts magazine is published bi-monthly in two separate issues in both Czech and English. In addition to the Czech art scene, it publishes materials on art life in other Central and Eastern European countries.

http://www.meo.org.hu , http://www.divus.cz/umelec/

Vera Röhm's artwork

Double Exhibition of Vera Röhm (Germany)

31 October - 20 November   Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem, Barcsay-terem
Shadow Wanderings
Opening: 31 October 5 p.m.

31 October - 23 November   Goethe-Institut Galéria
Supplements
Opening: 31 October 6:30 p.m.
Joint opening, introduction by Dóra Maurer

Vera Röhm Russian-born German artist presents two simultaneous exhibitions in Budapest. Röhm, a conceptualist constructivist works parallel on several related themes. Her group of works Supplements (from 1975) is closely linked to her studies in sculpting at the Paris and Lausanne art academies. She uses originally square-based but wrecked wooden beams that are supplemented by clear plastic filling giving a sense of immaterialness. The clear plastic material acts as a magnifying glass and reveals the dramatic structure of the wood's tenseness during breaking, while drawing into the work the view of the environment, which changes according to the viewer's position. Röhm's another main theme Stray Shadow, which she has been working on since 1983, is where cosmic time, cosmic movement becomes visible for us, inhabitants of the Globe. The shadow of bodies is a natural phenomenon that we usually do not think about. Röhm, however, based on accurate geographical and time co-ordinates draws the gradually recorded shadows of a geometric body (a personal gnomon) suspended in a given space and spreads them in the form of a collage on the walls and the floor of the given space. This time, the Barcsay-terem is the space where the exhibition's visitors can recall and experience their cosmic relationship with the solar system.

http://st-ives.net/selected-art/roehm/ , http://www.goethe.de/ms/bud/unindex.htm

 Opening: 2 November 6 p.m.

In the past decade, new nation-states were born on the multiethnic Balkans. Gregor Podnar, curator of the Skuc Gallery in Ljubljana selected Slovenian artists who probe questions created by this new situation: what the nation concept means to a ethnic group that existed only as a national minority not so long ago. Prominent art personalities of the Slovenian capital approach the problems of national identity with sharp criticism or humour, or with the intention of documenting it.

http://www.galerija.skuc-drustvo.si/ , http://www2.arnes.si/~tlazet/dom/index.html

A Marina Grzinic philosopher, theoretician and media artist from Ljubljana has selected Slovenian videos to accompany the exhibition. Films commented by Grzinic portray post-socialist Slovenia in the '80s and '90s.
http://www.trafo.hu/

Varga Studio is one of Europe's most renowned animation studios. It has worked together with prominent companies such as Klasky-Csupó, Warner Bros. or Tigers Aspect (Mr. Bean's company). Moreover, well-known channels such as HBO, Cartoon Network, Channel 4 or BBC have broadcast films produced by Varga Studio. A number of films screened at the festival will be premieres for Hungarian audiences. Party with music and dance will follow the screenings.

19 October   6 p.m.-7 p.m. Csaba Varga's retrospective
                    7:30-8:30 Csaba Varga: Don Quixote
                    10 p.m. The Adventures of Captain Chaos (improvisation for cartoons)

20 October   10 a.m. -11:30 a.m. Animation Films for Children No. 1
                    1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. Animation Films for Children No. 2
                    3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Artistic Shorts of the Varga Studio
                    5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Csaba Varga: Don Quixote
                    7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Animation Films for Adults
                    9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. Energomat Concert
                    11 p.m. Dj Bosi

21 October   10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Animation Films for Children No. 2
                    1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. Animation Films for Children No. 1
                    3:30 p.m.- 5 p.m. Csaba Varga's retrospective

In the mornings and afternoons in the smaller hall in Kultiplex, children will have a chance to learn tricks of the trade of making cartoons from experts.
For detailed information, See the event brochure, programme magazines and newspapers.
(Supported by National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage)
http://www.vargagroup.com

Enikő Börcsök was awarded Best Actress at the 32nd Hungarian Film Festival for her performance in the film.

The Estonian film industry was represented in the past few years in Hungary by mainly animation productions. The present event, however, provides a thorough overview about films created during the past years. Although a film studio had been established in Tallinn over 50 years ago, Estonian films only gained momentum in the 60's - at that time, naturally under Moscow's watchful eye. Following the country's independence, the conditions of making films also underwent transformation. Since the late 90's with the stabilisation of state funding, 2-3 feature films, a dozen short films and animation films are produced. Co-productions play an increasingly important role, mostly with neighbouring Baltic and Scandinavian countries. The film days will present the most successful films for the past few years, showing multiple award-winning film drama, political satires, criminal drama, subculture films, and the best contemporary animation productions with the works of Priit Pärn and Ülo Pikkov, whose films enjoyed success at both the Mediawave festival and the Animation Film Festival in Kecskemét.

(Organised jointly with Toldi cinema and the Estonian Institute in Hungary. Supported by Eesti Kultuurkapital, National Cultural Fund Programme - Ministry of National Cultural Heritage. Media support by Pesti Est)

2 November

Georgica (director: Sulev Keedus)

   7 p.m. All my Lenins (directed by Hardi Volmer)
   9 p.m. Georgica (directed by Sulev Keedus)

3 November
   5 p.m. Selection of Estonian Animation Films
   7 p.m. Selection of Estonian Animation Films
   8 p.m. Meeting the Public (Riho Unt and Csaba Varga)
   9 p.m. Selection of Estonian Animation Films

4 November
   7 p.m. The Highway Crossing (directed by Arko Rokk)
   9 p.m. Too Tired to Hate (directed by Renita Lintrop)