Anton Corbijn is one the best known photographers and music video directors of the world, who has helped several bands to fame by the taking extraordinary photos of them or shooting videos to their songs. Such bands are: Nirvana, Depeche Mode, U2, or Joy Division. In fact, the story of this latter band was the main theme of Corbijn’s first movie, titled Contol.

Several other photographers has tried to follow, and times even to copy his style, thus the 1980’s and 1990’s were mostly defined by his diction and the atmosphere he creates in his works. He had a huge effect on the so-called MTV-generation’s view of things.

So, Ludwig Museum – Contemporary Art Museum decided to exhibit Corbijn photos, thus, we get a closer look at the rich and famous people of Hollywood – but in an unusual way. Furthermore, a selection of his videos will be shown in the exhibition, too.

The exhibition is open from April 29 – July 5, 2009.

Ludwig Museum is open: from Tuesday to Sunday from 10AM to 8PM.

The museum can be found at: MŰVÉSZETEK PALOTÁJA l 1095 Budapest, Komor Marcell u. 1.

For further information about the artist and the exhibition, please visit:

http://www.ludwigmuseum.hu/site.php?inc=kiallitas&kiallitasId=470&menuId=43

www.corbijn.co.uk

Being a big fan of movies, I love going to cinema; in fact, I try to go to at least twice a week. However, most of the time, I only get to see the newest films, as only they are shown in cinemas. Somehow the old classics have become forgotten, most of the picture-theatres don’t even think about scheduling them.

Once again, we are lucky to live in Budapest, as you can find several cinemas in the city, and at least one of them shows old classics regularly. Örökmozgó, it is, which can be found on Erzsébet körút.

This Sunday afternoon (May 10^th) from 4.30PM a legendary film will be shown: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Is anybody out there who’s not familiar with this classic? Well, for them, here is a little synopsis:

Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.

The character of Holly Golightly is played by the stunning Audrey Hepburn who, for many, is the most beautiful actress in the history of film. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was made in 1961, it became a huge success, immedately, and later on it won 3 Academy Awards.

So, it you haven’t seen it, here is the chance, you should not miss it!:)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s will be shown on Sunday, May 10^th, from 4.30PM in Örökmozgó

Address: 1073 Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 39.

On May 15-16-17^th, Ráday Street, the Cultstreet of Budapest will welcome Plein Art – The Festival of Contemporary Arts. The event has quite a long history, as it is held for the 11^th time, and just as in last year, Plein Art is organized by Erlin Gallery and sponsored by the local government of Ferencváros. In this year, the main guest of the festival is Russia; thus, a big portion of the focus will be on Russian contemporary fine arts.

The musical, literary and performance events will take place outdoors in Ráday Street; furthermore, exhibitions will open in every hour. The visitors will have the chance to see the works of front-rank Russian and Hungarian contemporary arists, such as: Nyikolay Kopeykin, Sargsyan Hovan, and Olga Kisseleva from Russia, while Hungary is represented by Péter Markus, József Gaál and László Szotyori.

If you decide to visit Ráday Street during those three days, be aware that you can became a part of the statue exhibition that takes place outside on the street any second; moreover, you can bump into an outdoors improvised performance, or into an art flag exhibition, too. The atmosphere will certainly be very artistic and magical, with a hint of Russian virtue and the insanity of contemporary art.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

(Such a shame, I could find it only in Hungarian.)

Do you know what URBITÁLIS is? Well, it’s a month-long festival that involves the whole of Budapest. The most important purpose of Urbitális is to show how rich, multi-faceted and complex not only the Hungarian culture, but its society, too. This year the main theme is the capital itself, which involves and introduces its districts, bigger squares, parks, and other establishments as well. Moreover, several theatres, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, national and private firms will take part in it.

Urbitális offers diverse entertainment, thus, demonstrates the progress Budapest has made culturally in the previous years. Consequently, in its schedule you will not only find the usual conferences, exhibitions, and workshops, but thought-provoking discussions, local walks, and bicycle trips will be organized, too.

Furthermore, the residents of Budapest will have the chance to get to know the institutions which serve the community (such as the waterworks, fire stations, and bus garages) in a way that they have never seen them before. Numerous trips will be organized to different museums and other cultural institutions, but to other fairly unusual locations, too.

So, the Budapesti Urbanisztika Majális started on May 1^st, and several events are on schedule up until May 31^st.

Are you a fan of Impressionism?

Then I have a great place for you to visit in Budapest: it’s Kogart House on Andrássy Street. A temporary exhibition has opened for those interested in impressionism, titled In The Current of Impressionism. Several works of great Hungarian painters can be found in the gallery, such as Mihály Munkácsy, Gyula Benczúr, Oszkár Glatz, Antal Csók, János Vasary – just to mention a few of the most famoust ones.

Impressionism meant a completely new chapter in the history of art in the 19^th century as it opened doors toward modern arts. All impressionist works have a special atmosphere that had not been expressed before: these paintings capture the freedom and happiness that people were able to find only in nature. In most of the pieces the visitor will find people having fun and enjoying themselves outdoors: sitting in boats, lying on the grass, taking walks in the woods, having a picnic, etc.

The exhibition provides an overview of the early Hungarian impressionist artists from the 19^th century until the 1910’s. The paintings have been collected from all around the world, such as, the United States, Germany or Austria. Probably the two most important pieces of these are “Szánarakás” by Mihály Munkácsy and “Anya és gyermekei” by Pál Színyei Merse. Interesting to know that the latter one had never been exhibited in Hungary before.

The exhibition is open from April 3^rd until August 2^nd.

Kogart House can be found at: 1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 112. (Just across Hero’s Square)
Phone:+36 1 354 3820

Visiting hours:

Monday-Saturday: from 10 am to 5 pm Sunday: from 10 am to 8pm

And did you know that he was born exactly two hundred years ago?

I’m talking about Mr. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) whose birth bicentennial is being celebrated with two exhibitions in New York right now. Both shows are devoted exclusively to Lincoln; although they are very different ones , they complete one another very well.

The first one is organized in the Library of Congress, and titled “With Malice Toward None”. This show is clearly about words, as it includes almost all major Lincoln documents starting with the copybook from his boyhood, which were probably his first written words, and acopy of his first grammar book. Naturally, more “powerful” documents can be found as well, such as the text which is believed to be the oldest copy of the Gettysburg Address, or the first and second inaugural addresses. By this very impressive exhibition we can clearly see how Lincoln’s language and rhetoric skills progressed throughout his life.

The second one is called “Designing the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon “. It is held in the National Gallery, and it is a rather tiny exhibition, as it is tucked into a hallway of the museum. It shows Bacon’s model of the Lincoln Memorial, a wooden statue that concentrates on the proportions of the memorial, rather than its details. As French's plaster cast is one-third the size of the original statue, the visitor has the chance to look Lincoln in the eye and not only his shoes.

The latter exhibition is open until February, 2010; however, if you decide to pay a visit to the former one, you might need to hurry a bit as it closes in May, 2009.

Ok, I do know that there isn’t a big chance that any of us will visit these exhibitions; and it’s not because of my lousy review.:) However, if you do decide to pop over to the Big Apple to check out Lincoln's first grammar book, don’t forget to take me with you!:)