Similar, Yet The Same – Subcultures transforming beyond recognition in Austria and Hungary – OPENING

Two pairs of projections offer a glimpse into a corner of Austrian and Hungarian reality, linked by a thousand cultural threads and geographical proximity, into disappearing or changing corners of communal existence.

Opening: Wednesday, 12 March, 2025, 6 pm
Opening remarks by András Zsuppán cultural journalist, Válasz Online
The exhibition is open: 12 March 2025 – 27 April 2025

The documentary photographers, often grotesque in tone, hold up a curved mirror to us and direct their lenses where we tend to look away: to the margins of society. In our schematic world, does it make sense to talk about the West and the East and to think in these terms? Because looking at the four series, we may get the feeling that we see the same thing everywhere. The most widespread traditional basic unit of belonging were scenes of religious and, from the 19th century, national consciousness, which had lost much of their weight in Europe by the beginning of the 21st century.Local characteristics are dissolving, and the community places that made belonging a tangible experience are fading away. And the uniformised, selfie-ready entertainment industry is steamrollseverythnig down, while providing no real identity. But marginalised groups fleeing from poor living conditions, often out of forced interdependence, will nevertheless keep their communities alive with their unique character.