Center for Modern and Contemporary Art Debrecen

Located in a building designed by architect András Kováts, Ybl prize winner, in the historic downtown of Debrecen, the MODERN INSTITUTE (MODEM) has been welcoming visitors since September 25, 2006. In the three‑storey building, nearly 2,500 square metres are allocated to contemporary exhibitions in four gallery rooms, while the Zöld Kilincs café and the interior garden host numerous cultural and musical programs that attract interested people. In addition, MODEM also organizes interdisciplinary art programs, art‑history lectures, literary evenings and art‑education activities.

Activities

The MODEM Modern and Contemporary Art Center is an internationally connected museum institution that welcomes visitors with its contemporary collection, temporary and permanent exhibitions, and interdisciplinary programs. Its aim is to present the current trends and progressive efforts of contemporary art, the most significant domestic and international representatives, as well as the domestic and international achievements in visual arts of the 20th–21st centuries. Responding to the challenges of the spirit of the age, it encourages cooperation among representatives of various artistic and scientific fields. A key mission is to study the culture and society of Central‑Eastern Europe through art, in the form of exhibitions, projects, conferences and events.

Education is vital for MODEM, which is realized in active, mutually reciprocal frameworks in cooperation with numerous educational institutions of the region and the city. For this purpose, targeted programs are launched in the fields of art mediation, museum pedagogy and visual communication.

The institution provides regular calls for proposals, scholarships and artist exchange opportunities in order to support emerging creators and curators and to open towards the future. Its MODEM program, based on mobility, has been implemented under the auspices of the Debrecen International Artists' Camp (DNM), which has been operating since 2006. Among the program’s key goals are enriching Debrecen’s cultural diversity and creating points of connection for artists and cultural professionals from the region.

Exhibitions (selection) 2006 2006

2006

Ninety‑nine years. Selection from the Antal–Lusztig collection, September 25 – March 18, 2006.

2007

Distortions. André Kertész exhibition, March 29 – May 13, 2007.

Lost and Found, May 25 – July 22, 2007.

Northern Shore, June 15 – July 29, 2007.

Body Language. Selection from the Antal–Lusztig collection, April 12, 2007 – March 30, 2008.

The Real da Vinci, August 16 – November 16, 2007.

Expanded Landscape. Imre Bukta exhibition, December 12, 2007 – March 1, 2008.

2008

Partition, Intermedia from Five Continents, March 14 – May 11, 2008.

György Kepes, The Art of Light, April 11 – June 15, 2008.

The Barbarian Genius. Vilmos Aba‑Novák retrospective, April 21 – July 6, 2008.

Socreal. Painting in the Rákosi Era, July 10 – November 7, 2008.

Blue Noses. The Naked Truth. Blue Noses uncensored, September 26 – December 15, 2008.

How to Proceed with Russia? Contemporary Russian Art, September 26 – December 15, 2008.

7490 Other professional, scientific, technical activities. Tibor Gyenis exhibition, November 8, 2008 – February 22, 2009. Képerdő. Ilona Keserű’s work (1982‑2008), November 22, 2008 – March 1, 2009.

2009

István Nagy: a cross‑section of a lifetime oeuvre. Works from the Antal–Lusztig collection, January 15 – June 28, 2009.

The Model of the Universe. Contemporary Hungarian Church Architecture, March 22, 2009 – June 28.

Fragment for Man, Erzsébet Schaár’s Artistic Legacy from the Antal–Lusztig Collection, June 21, 2009 – July 31.

Little Hungarian Pornography. Exhibition on the System We Live In, July 30, 2009 – October 31.

Messiahs. The Idea of the Western Man and Redemption in Modern and Contemporary Visual Arts, August 13, 2009 – December 31.

Banana Republic, Polish Expressive Art of the 1980s, November 20, 2009 – January 31, 2010.

János Aknay: Muse of Szentendre, January 30, 2010 – March 28.

2010

The Rhythm of Existence. Retrospective Exhibition of Judit Reigl, June 17, 2010 – September 19.

Panamarenko. The Accumulation of Gravity, September 19, 2010 – December 7.

Locked in the Seven Tower. Melancholia in Modern Art. Antal–Lusztig Collection, October 23, 2010 – March 25, 2011. 2011

Border Transgression. Trans(a)gressive Millennium. Exhibition of Sorin Tara, January 15, 2011 – March 27.

My God. Christian Perspective in Contemporary Hungarian Fine Arts, February 27, 2011 – May 15.

Hard-to-Ask Questions. Exhibition of Endre Koronczi, May 1, 2011 – July 24.

View into the Lichthófra. Eastern European Video Art, August 19, 2011 – November 6.

Hybridization Between the Carpathians. The Iroquois Collection and the Regime Change, September 11, 2011 – January 1, 2012.

Orsolya Drozdik: The Other Venus, October 9, 2011 – January 15, 2012.

Lines of Beauty. Nudes in the Antal–Lusztig Collection, December 1, 2011 – February 26, 2012.

2012

László feLugossy: 7 Billion Human Brains, Approximately, January 21, 2012 – April 29.

Zero Years. Slovak Visual Art from 1999–2011 from Four Curatorial Perspectives, March 25, 2012 – June 24.

Very Specific Joys. Endre Tót Retrospective 1971–2011, June 2, 2012 – September 16.

Wild animals, fish, birds. Photographs by István Soltész, 15 July 2012 – 7 October.

Foreign material. “Surrealism” in the attraction of reality. Selection from the Antal–Lusztig collection, 16 June 2012 – 31 December.

Dawn. International trends in figurative painting, 7 October 2012 – 10 February 2013.

Revolutionary, prophet, laborer. The art of Béla Kondor, 4 November 2012 – 17 February.

2013

Funny story. Exhibition of Lajos Csontó, 10 March 2013 – 8 June.

Gábor Roskó: The burden of history, 28 April 2013 – 28 July.

Still – Photography in the museum. International photo exhibition, 7 July 2013 – 20 October.

Circular ruins. The walls of Lili Ország, 18 August 2013 – 19 January 2014.

Deadly nature. Naturalism and humanism at the beginning of the 21st century, 17 November 2013 – 16 February 2014.