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Mediating Alternative Culture: Two Controversial Exhibitions in Hungary During the 1980s

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Media and the Cold War in the 1980s

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ((PSHM))

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Abstract

This essay addresses the role that information and transnational solidarity played in the visibility and public acknowledgment of Hungarian alternative culture. It examines the censored exhibitions Hungary Can Be Yours (1984) and The Fighting City (1987) through the lens of their media coverage. Both cases exemplify the conditions of marginalization imposed by the communist authorities, as well as the strategies of public exposure and denunciation implemented by Hungarian artists facing censorship. This shift toward greater visibility, Debeusscher argues, ran parallel to the growth of political and civil oppositional movements in Central Europe. The chapter’s last section discusses the inclusion of both exhibitions in historical and artistic narratives after the political and economic changes of 1989–1991 in the Eastern bloc.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Juliane Debeusscher

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  1. Juliane Debeusscher
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Henrik G. Bastiansen

  2. New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Martin Klimke

  3. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Rolf Werenskjold

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Debeusscher, J. (2019). Mediating Alternative Culture: Two Controversial Exhibitions in Hungary During the 1980s. In: Bastiansen, H.G., Klimke, M., Werenskjold, R. (eds) Media and the Cold War in the 1980s. Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98381-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98382-0

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