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In the framework of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture (VEB2023 ECoC)programme, the staff of the House of Arts Veszprém organised 62 exhibitions during the season, 52 of which were held in the venues of our institution, more than 60 000 people visited our Veszprém’s contemporary art and cultural institution. This, together with the regional and international links of the VEB2023 ECoC programme, has enabled art projects to be implemented beyond the city and national borders. Our exhibitions and publications travelled to Ankara, Vienna, Düsseldorf, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Venice as well. The House of Arts Veszprém closed the year 2023 with international cooperation with 27 countries.

In the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 ECoC project, our institution recognised the importance of establishing contacts with cultures outside Europe in different artistic fields, in addition to the usual European-focused contacts. In addition to organising exhibitions and programmes with project partners in Argentina, Brazil, India, Peru and the United States, the promotion of Japanese culture and art in Europe has become one of our most important activities in the field of international professional networking. With the help of EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee and Japan Foundation we got the opportunity to realise the Ways of Earth Japanese – Hungarian ceramic art project. This marked the start of a new niche art programme in 2022, which has been exploring the links between Japanese and European cultures over the past two years, and has launched a joint reflection on a range of contemporary art.

In the tradition of Japanese ceramics, the organic connection to the land, the landscape and the natural environment is still of vital importance. It is with this perspective that the intercultural programme “Ways of Earth” initiated a creative dialogue based on the curatorial concept of the visual artist Júlia Néma, under the project management of Bernadett Grászli, Director, and Marian Sörös, Office Manager. From Japan, two contemporary representatives of the ceramic culture of Mino, Aso Rando and Hioki Tetsuya, as well as curator Hayashi Izumi (Museum of Modern Ceramic Art – Gifu), and from Hungary, ceramic artist Júlia Néma, photographer Ákos Czigány and geographer Barnabás Korbélyparticipated in the joint work. Within the framework of the Veszprém – Balaton ECoC 2023 Balaton EYEresidency programme, the artists got to know each other and the cultural and artistic traditions of Mino and the Veszprém – Balaton region. Together they travelled through the landscapes and collected minerals and experiences together to create new works for joint exhibitions. The exhibition was shown in Veszprém in May 2024, then in Tajimi, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art – Gifu in October 2024 as an official programme of the “Gifu, Land of Clear Waters” National Cultural Festival 2024, and in a selection of exhibitions in November 2024 at the Liszt Institute in Tokyo. The contemporary ceramic art project “Ways of Earth” was realized in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art – Gifu, the House of Arts Veszprém and the Bakony-Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, with the support of the Municipality of Veszprém, the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee and the Japan Foundation. Thanks to this major collaboration, we have become a professional partner of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art Gifu. As a legacy of the exhibitions in Veszprém and Tajimi and Tokyo in 2024, we plan to organise a joint AIR programme to support the participation of Japanese and Hungarian artists in the fields of contemporary art and education. During 2025 foreign and Hungarian artists will come to Veszprém to live and create in the city during a project week. In addition to Hungarian artists, the art residency programme will also host Japanese guests, and they will have the opportunity to work in the studios of the House of Arts Veszprém. They will also introduce themselves to the audience in Veszprém during evening talks. Workshops will be held, which could also be advertised as a summer university programme for art students. The artists’ residency programme will conclude with exhibitions in the House of Arts and in unusual venues in the Veszprém – Balaton region.

In our Japanese-Hungarian photography project, launched last year, we explored the cultural and natural heritage of Central Japan, as a continuation of our initiative to explore the values of Gifu Prefecture, home of the Japanese National Cultural Festival. In connection with the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, we will organise a series of authentic programmes focusing on Japanese culture /photo exhibition, photo book, contemporary jewellery exhibition, educational lectures, AIR programme/ in Veszprém, Vienna, Budapest from April to October, with the participation of several Hungarian museums and art galleries. In October 2024, we had the opportunity to initiate a new international art project in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo and the Liszt Institute Tokyo, involving female artists from Japan, Austria, Hungary, Germany and France. We explore the interconnections between furoshiki as Japanese cultural heritage and contemporary art in a contemporary art project focusing on sustainable development.

The support of the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee is of particular importance to us, as it has enabled us to launch a sustainable Japanese-Hungarian contemporary art project with a positive future image, which organises international collaborations in the fields of design, fine arts and photography, highlighting the opportunities for the presentation of Japanese culture and art in Europe.