A cultural bucket list for contemporary art and the Balaton Uplands lovers

The last few years have seen a veritable boom in contemporary art in the Balaton Uplands, with galleries, cultural centres and community spaces opening up in succession, hosting exhibitions of national and international importance.

Formerly a stable, now a modern exhibition and community space, the “Magazin Galéria (Magazine Gallery) on the main street of Köveskál offers more over 200 contemporary artworks. The collection is the personal collection of the owner, and the exhibition is constantly changing. The gallery differs from the classic cleanliness of the exhibition space, with a focus on homeliness and a comfortable reception of art.

One jewel of the Balatonfüred cultural quarter, the Vaszary Gallery, is a first-class exhibition space for contemporary art, and since its opening has hosted works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Robert Capa. The gallery regularly organises interactive museum education sessions, and in the summer the Vaszary Art Workshop welcomes children interested in art, so it might be a good idea to include it in your family holiday programme. A special opportunity to visit the gallery on a guided walk called "Reform era walk in Balatonfüred", during which you can learn interesting anecdotes and exciting legends surrounding the town.

In the gallery of the Zsdral art dealer and art collector couple from Pécs, you can see about fifty contemporary works of art. The owners plan to present monthly thematic exhibitions and organise programmes linked to the works and art on display. Contemporary ceramic art is unique to the region, with ceramicists forming the main style of the gallery's profile, alongside lyrical and concrete geometric painters, and sculptors.

MOMŰ, opening in 2021, could transform Balatonfüred into a new artistic citadel. The opening exhibition is based on the fine art and photographic material of the Szöllösi-Nagy - Nemes Collection. The modern and contemporary collection, mostly representing international geometric and concrete art, will return to Balatonfüred after thirty years as part of the European Capital of Culture events. In the future, we can expect to see similar quality contemporary art selections in MOMŰ's exhibitions, so it's worth keeping an eye out.

The “Modern Képtár” (Modern Art Gallery) in Veszprém is home to one of Hungary's most important art collectors, László Vass. The permanent exhibition, which is renewed every two years, features nearly 150 works of Constructivist, Minimalist, Concrete and Conceptual art from the post-war decades. The collection includes works (drawings, paintings, prints, figurines, and photographs) by renowned artists such as Menyhért Tóth, Tihamér Gyarmati and Dezső Korniss. However, the “Modern Képtár” (Modern Gallery) is more than just an exhibition space, it is also a cultural centre: conferences, guided tours and multi-age museum education sessions are organised regularly and held weekly.