Fortepan ABC Exhibition: A Journey Through 20th Century Hungary
Step into a fascinating world where history comes alive through the lens of private photography and cutting-edge artificial intelligence. The Kieselbach Gallery presents an extraordinary exhibition that transforms historical photographs into moving windows to the past, offering visitors an intimate glimpse into 20th century Hungarian life.
What Makes This Exhibition Special?
This isn’t your typical gallery experience. Instead of traditional artworks, you’ll discover 95 carefully selected photographs from the Fortepan digital archive, each telling unique stories of Hungarian history. What sets this exhibition apart is its innovative use of artificial intelligence to breathe new life into these historical moments, creating animations that make the past feel surprisingly present.
The exhibition is based on Tamási Miklós’s first book “Fortepan ABC”, featuring the work of Fortepan’s founding editor who has viewed millions of photographs over 15 years. From his extensive research, 600 photographs made it into the book, while 95 grace the gallery walls.
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A Walk Through Hungarian History
Discover Forgotten Stories
The exhibition takes you on an emotional roller coaster through the 20th century, showcasing everything from carefree Belle Époque moments to heart-wrenching historical dramas. You’ll encounter:
- Nostalgic everyday moments that became symbols of their time
- Entertainment scenes from bygone eras
- Historical documents that capture both mundane and extraordinary events
- Street scenes featuring long-lost neon signs, posters, and advertisements
The Magic of Fortepan Photography
What makes these images so compelling? They capture the authentic essence of private Hungary – intimate moments that would otherwise be lost to time. The photographs reveal how ordinary people lived, celebrated, struggled, and dreamed across different decades.
The exhibition explores a fascinating question: How will artificial intelligence change the way we view our past? Will technology make history more vivid and accessible, or will it blur the line between authentic memory and artificial recreation?
Featured Highlights
Lost Cinema Treasures
One particularly intriguing section focuses on forgotten films advertised in 1960s Budapest. The exhibition features hand-painted movie posters that once dominated the busy intersection of Rákóczi Road and Museum Boulevard, including:
- “Heroin” (1968) – An East German-Hungarian-Yugoslav crime film that avoided propaganda in favor of Italian and French crime film aesthetics
- “A Loaf of Bread” – A Soviet-Uzbek film about a brave boy’s journey to find wheat during post-civil war Russia
- “The Engineer on a Dangerous Mission” – A Soviet resistance story set in Nazi-occupied Odessa
Interactive Experience with AI
The most innovative aspect of the exhibition is how artificial intelligence brings static photographs to life. Selected images are animated, creating an almost surreal experience where historical figures seem to move and breathe, challenging our perception of memory and authenticity.
Perfect for Every Visitor
Whether you’re a history enthusiast, photography lover, or simply curious about Hungarian culture, this exhibition offers something special. The conversational tone of the accompanying texts makes complex historical contexts accessible to everyone, while the visual storytelling ensures that language barriers won’t prevent you from enjoying the experience.
Practical Information
When: August 27 – September 19, 2025
Where: Kieselbach Gallery, Szent István krt. 5, Budapest 1055
What to Expect: Approximately 1-2 hours for a thorough visit
Why Visit Now?
This exhibition represents a unique moment in cultural history – the intersection of traditional archive preservation and cutting-edge technology. The Fortepan archive has been saving private photographs from destruction for 15 years, and this exhibition showcases how these rescued memories can be transformed and reimagined for contemporary audiences.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience Hungarian history in a completely new way. The combination of authentic historical photography with artificial intelligence creates an unforgettable journey through time that will leave you contemplating the nature of memory, nostalgia, and our relationship with the past.
The exhibition asks profound questions about our digital age: As we stand at the threshold of the AI era, how will technology reshape our understanding of history? This thought-provoking experience offers no easy answers, but it certainly provides plenty of food for thought as you wander through these animated glimpses of Hungary’s private past.