HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School and Hungarian Cultural Centre Open Joint Exhibition
On February 2, the building on Promyshlennaya Ulitsa hosted the opening of the exhibition 'From HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY to MOSONMAGYARÓVÁR: A Typographic Journey around Hungary'. The exhibition showcases lettering compositions devoted to ten Hungarian cities and created by students of the HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School. The opening ceremony was attended by the director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre and the science and technology attaché of the Embassy of Hungary in the Russian Federation.
The exhibition 'From HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY to MOSONMAGYARÓVÁR: A Typographic Journey around Hungary' is a joint project of the HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School and the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre. Visitors to the exhibition can see posters with graphic concepts devoted to ten Hungarian cities. The students behind the works developed symbols for the selected cities and created lettering compositions using Cyrillic. The resulting graphic concepts can be printed on T-shirts, hoodies, shopping bags and more.
The works were selected for the exhibition through a competition process which finished at the beginning of December. The winners also received cash prizes and memorable gifts from the Hungarian Cultural Centre.
The official opening took place in February in the HSE University-St Petersburg building on 17 Promyshlennaya Ulitsa. Representatives of the Hungarian delegation attended the opening ceremony:
— Olga Gégény, Acting Consul General of Hungary in St Petersburg
— Sándor Kozlov, Director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre
— András Márfi, Science and Technology Attaché at the Embassy of Hungary in the Russian Federation
— Daria Nikiforova, Coordinator of Cultural Projects at the Liszt Institute
The event was also attended by Dorottya Dolovai, Senior Lecturer of Hungarian at SPbU, and András Gál, Lecturer at HSE University-St Petersburg.
Sandor Kozlov, Director of the Liszt Institute, presented gifts to the participants of the exhibition and highlighted the unique approach of the contestants, which produced a series of works ready for display as an exhibition project. In the future, the exhibition will be displayed in other Russian cities and Hungary.
Sandor Kozlov, Director of the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre
This was our first joint project with the lecturers and students of the HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School. It was interesting for us to see not just the final result and the presentation of the finished posters, but also the research done by the students during the preparatory phase. Each participant had their own approach and perspective on how to present a Hungarian city with a long geographical name in a stylish way, particularly when it came to the chosen symbols and fonts. Each work is unique, and together they make a ready-to-display exhibition project, which we hope to present in various Russian cities and Hungary in the nearest future. I want to express special thanks to the project curator, Dmitry Kharshak.
After the official opening, the members of the Hungarian delegation took part in a workshop on printing techniques such as linocut, monotyping and gravure on cardboard. It was led by Yury Shtapakov, Lecturer at the HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School. During the workshop, guests printed gravures on an engraving machine with pictures of their choice, including work by project participant Anna Ustimenko devoted to the city of Székesfehérvár.
All HSE University students and staff can attend the exhibition in the building on 17 Promyshlennaya Ulitsa.