From the 23rd of November 2012 until the 17th of February 2013, the Ludwig Museum, Budapest´s contemporary art museum, will hold the exhibition The Freedom of Sound. John Cage behind the Iron Curtain.

John Cage was undoubtedly one of the most influential composers of the past century. To put him simply as a great musical artist would be a far cry from the achievements this unique American artist got.

To be able to summarise John Cage´s CV, we could say that he was a pioneer in the art world. In many fields he is known as the father of electronic music. He experimented with rhythms, with musical structure and with the instruments themselves. He had a huge influence inside the movement known as aleatoric music. He was a revolutionary in each of his controversial works. This skill meant that he had a huge number of detractors, although they were overwhelmingly beaten in numbers by his supporters and admirers. Cage was influential to more than one generation of composers and artists. Modern dance wouldn´t exist as such as we know it today had it not been for the collaboration of John Cage and Merce Cunningham.

He also participated in the field of visual art of the 20th century. Chance was the essence in which he based his works. he also innovated in the use of materials to carry out his works. Foam, stones, cotton wool or even fire were used by Cage for the making of some of his most famous works.

He even produced a film, also based on the aleatoric phenomenons of One, although he never saw it on the big screen since he passed away before the film premiered.

John Cage is also catalogued as a philosopher and writer. His dense bibliography is made up by a large variety of books, essays and articles.

Without doubt, he was one of the most influential figures of the post-war avant-garde. His light illuminated even the composers of Eastern Europe, as he was invited to numerous events and conferences in the main capitals of these countries.

This exhibition pays a deserved tribute to the mark left by this 20th century genius in the countries behind the iron curtain. During that time, Cage collaborated often with the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.

For two months, the second floor of this museum will exhibit writings, documents, works of art and visual and sound files by both John Cage and many artists influenced by him. Also, many lectures will be carried out, documentaries will be screened and colloquia will be organized. This is a great chance to present this fantastic figure of the 20th century to the new generation.

The museum will offer guided visits in order not to miss a single bit of the exhibited material. You can book your tickets in advance from the official museum website for 5 euros each.

Hungary is a beautiful country and its capital, Budapest, has all the ingredients to leave the visitor satisfied: culture, leisure, history and hidden places with a lot of charm to get lost in for hours on end.

Salermico

To visit the Pearl of the Danube, we recommend that you rent Budapest accommodation apartments . There are many apartments to stay in when spending a few days visiting a city. There´s no need anymore to go to a hotel to feel at home when you´re travelling. If you´ve not tried it yet, I highly recommend it.

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Until the  13th of December the Műcsarnok Museum exhibits a  cycle of the best Hungarian cinema form the 80s. Projections at the museum are held every Tuesday seeking to revive an era where a rupture with the classic look of films -matched to socialist realism- is abandoned even if it is present as a burden of  films that emerged from the avant-garde  Russian movies where each image is a work of art.

The history of Hungary has been plagued by tragic events, that film has recreated with ability, thus, the historical film legacy is huge. Just taking a look at these films is to understand that Hungarian culture has been forged in adversity, which has not stopped them from having great artists, musicians and a little known rich film collection

Since the seventies, Hungarian movies are divided into two tendencies, one which focuses on formalism and another one that assumes the reality as the object of their stories. In both cases the strength of Russian films based on the perfection of the picture continues to dominate, that is, the look of film as art.

One of the authors included in the list is the director of the film Ecstasy. András Kovács ,a film director and writer who directed about 30 films between 1961 and 1996. He was a guest and jury at the Cannes Film Festival of 1976. Kovács takes the theory of great Russian cinema, by looking through the existential conflicts of the individual and observing the conflicts of the world around him.

Another of the great directors whose films are in this cycle is János Xantus, with his 1988 film Rocktérítő. Xantus has been enshrined in the international cinema circuit with his film Mephisto in 1981, which won an Oscar, 8 prizes, plus a nomination. The story is set in the early 30 �in Germany, where an actor, who lives without taking into account the political situation focuses only on his art. When the Nazi power grows, he sees the chance to work with propaganda for the Reich. He  soon becomes the most popular German actor, but he sees his friends disappear and does nothing about it, opting to only satisfy his ego.

Filmmaker and journalist Victor Kubiszyn and his 1989 film Árnyékszázad are part of this cylce, drama being one of his favorite themes that speak of personal conflicts facing contradictory worlds where reality and unreality are one-jointed.

In addition to these films you can also see  Time by Andras Monroy, Me Babe from 1993, by Peter Reich and The Self Control of Laszlo Fe Lugossy from1988.

For more information

http://www.mucsarnok.hu/new_site/index.php?lang=en&t=597&curmenu=109

Nancy Guzman

The Danube, the wide avenues and bucolic setting is a great incentive to live during this fall in apartments in Budapest and enjoy the hot springs, presentations like this film cycle , in addition to their top quality restaurants.

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Translated by: Marc
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