Transylvanian Hungarian Contemporary Culture Awards Presented

The Transylvanian Hungarian Contemporary Culture Awards were presented on Friday evening at the Hungarian Theater in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), to András Visky, writer, playwright, dramaturge, Gyárfás Oláh, sculptor, fashion designer and Éva Imre, actor.

For the 11th time, the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (RMDSZ) presented its awards in the categories of literature, fine arts and performing arts at the Cluj-Napoca Book Week.
In her speech, Csilla Hegedüs, Executive Vice-President of the RMDSZ, pointed out that the basic element and constant challenge of being Transylvanian is continuous renewal.

“We have to be flexible, because we live in a country where nothing is constant, only constant uncertainty,” she said. She added that

in such times, the community needs even more to take stock of its values, and that is why contemporary artists are needed to enrich it with new values.

“The contemporary artist breaks emotional and intellectual barriers, breaks social taboos, and moves us forward. It constantly changes our horizons, making us more accepting and inclusive through their works,” said the RMDSZ Executive Vice President. She added that they enrich the community and enrich our spiritual and intellectual treasury.

“We salute them and thank them for their courage to create, for the message of courage, for the completeness and depth of the message,” said Réka Brendus, Head of the Department of State Secretariat for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office, referring to the award winners.

Dóra Marcutiu-Rácz’s eulogy on András Visky’s literary work was read by Zsuzsa Tötszegi, an actor. “I don’t know of any contemporary Transylvanian novel that has addressed so many readers in such a short time in the last few years,” she said, referring to the author’s autobiographical novel, Resettlement, published last year. “He speaks about the most gruesome events in Transylvanian history without leaving us in the dark,” a reviewer wrote.

Tekla Szabó, who praised sculptor and fashion designer Gyárfás Oláh, said that despite his international fame, the artist, who lives in his home village of Újtusnád, is equally interested in fashion design, interior decoration, and sculpture- paying as much attention to form and detail as a designer of clothes as he does as a sculptor.

Katalin Ágnes Bartha, praising Éva Imre, said the Cluj-Napoca-based artist has a lot of “color and voice.” “She can be self-evidently effortless, mind-blowingly attractive, contemporary and personal, ethereally unattainable and terrifyingly, powerfully solid!” she listed.
The award ceremony was followed by a performance by Kányadi by Zsolt Bogdán, a theater artist from Cluj and the Kaláka ensemble.

Via MTI, Featured Image via MTI/Kiss Gábor