Lunches on course days:
Műhelycafe: 2 days
9th and 17th of July
Address: 1088, Budapest. Múzeum krt. 6.
Andrássy 100 Restaurant: 4 days
07th, 10th, 14th, 16th of July
Address: 1062, Andrássy út 100, Budapest
During this unique course, participants will have an opportunity to gain insight into the art scene in Budapest and to take a behind-the-scenes look at museum life. Participants will be able to explore Budapest's major museums and learn not only about important art initiatives, but also about the work of professionals working in the field of art. Art historians, curators, exhibition organisers and art mediators will accompany you on this exciting exploration.
The doors of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Hungarian National Museum, the Kiscelli Museum, the Museum of Ethnography and the Ludwig Museum will be opened to participants in a way they would never see as ordinary museum visitors. This practice-oriented course is all about art and art communication. Participants will create their own projects over the course of the two weeks titled "Museums of Budapest through my lens." This can be a collage, a painting, a poem, a PowerPoint presentation, a video, etc. and will present their finished projects on the last day.
Participating museums:
Museum of Fine Arts
Ludwig Museum
Hungarian National Gallery
Hungarian House of Music
Museum of Ethnography
Budapest Gallery
Contributing lecturers
Patrik Mravik, Assistant Professor- Atelier Department for Interdisciplinary History
Patrik Mravik is an Assistant Professor at ELTE Atelier Department for Interdisciplinary History. His research interests include the social and cultural history of the socialist period, history of Hungarian cinema and television, and the theories of contemporary museology. In addition to researching and teaching activities, he has been involved in several participatory projects in the field of museology and cultural heritage studies.
Lecture topics
Exhibition display and the white cube
Participation and collaboration in the museums
Dr. Ágnes Varga is an Associate Professor at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Faculty of Special Education, where she also serves as the head of the Music Therapy training program. She is a trained special education teacher and music therapist.
Her teaching, research, and practical work focus on the use of music as a tool for developing cognitive control functions, as well as its role in fostering connection and community building across diverse groups.
She is the founder of InMusic Training and Therapy, where she designs and leads music-based programs that integrate therapeutic, educational, and experiential approaches.
Dr. Varga is also a regular facilitator of the national outreach program “Hangszert a kézbe” (Hands-on Music Playground), where she engages participants in interactive, experience-based musical activities.
Her work emphasizes music as a shared, nonverbal language that supports interaction, engagement, and collective experience across cultural and linguistic boundaries.
Lecture topic: Tuning In
This experiential program invites participants to connect across languages, cultures, and personal boundaries through music as a shared, universal form of expression.
Morning session – Music-based workshop
The morning session focuses on getting to know each other, group cohesion, and playful interaction through music. Participants will engage in interactive activities involving rhythm, movement, body percussion, and simple improvisation. No prior musical experience is required.
The session aims to:
support connection beyond spoken language
foster group cohesion and collaborative experience
encourage playfulness and creativity
experience music as a universal language
Through shared musical activities, participants will explore how nonverbal musical tools can support attention, interaction, and attunement in a diverse, international group.
Afternoon session – Visit to the Hungarian House of Music (Magyar Zene Háza)
In the afternoon, participants will visit the Hungarian House of Music, a unique, experience-based cultural space where music can be explored through interactive and multisensory installations.
The program includes a guided exploration of the permanent exhibition (“Sound Dimensions – Musical Journeys in Space and Time”), where visitors move through the history of music from its origins to contemporary forms.
Participants will:
experience music through interactive sound installations and 3D audio environments
explore how music is created, perceived, and shared across cultures
engage with the relationship between sound, the human body, and perception
discover global musical traditions and contemporary perspectives through curated exhibition content
The visit emphasizes active listening and embodied musical experience, as the exhibition allows visitors not only to observe but also to interact with sound through movement, space, and sensory input.
Throughout the visit, participants will be encouraged to reflect on:
how musical experiences differ across contexts and cultures
how sound can function as a nonverbal means of communication
how interactive environments can support learning, engagement, and inclusion
The afternoon program creates a natural extension of the morning session, expanding from personal musical interaction to a broader cultural and experiential understanding of music.
Virág Kiss Phd , Art Educator, Art Therapist at ELTE
Her areas of interest include art education, art therapy and art-based methods, as well as museum pedagogy. In addition to practical education, she deals with an analytical approach to theoretical and methodological issues in her publications.
Lectures:
9-10.30 Playing with photographs of the present and past. This activity is linked to the project of Archive of The Present, which is a collection of everyday photos and stories from the 1990s to the present day in the Museum of Ethnography. https://jelenarchivum.hu/en
11-12.30 Found Object. Playing and creating with “found” and personal objects, linked to the Museum of Ethnography. Storytelling and making personal and community installations.
afternoon: Museum of Ethnography
Dr. Veronika Eszik, Assistant Professor, Atelier Department for Interdisciplinary History, ELTE
Veronika Eszik is an Assistant Professor at ELTE Atelier Department for Interdisciplinary History. Her main research fields are urban social and environmental history, the two linked by an interest in the social and environmental costs of ‘progress’. Her researches’ focus is on 19th century Austria–Hungary.
Lectures:
The Castle district of Budapest: history and heritage management in context
An Italian city in the Hungarian Kingdom and the ‘Hungarian Sea’
Zsuzsa Hudák, Exhibition Organiser, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
A cultural professional with nearly 20 years of experience working at the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest specialized in organizing international art exhibitions.
She has cooperated with artists, prestigious museums and cultural institutions from all over the world resulting in exhibitions that promote visual arts, intercultural understanding and the importance of cultural heritage. She has been working and cooperating with curators living in Hungary as well as with experts from other European countries. Her partners and collagues are mainly art historians, artists, architects, archeologists and professionals working in visual arts as well as in various cultural sectors.
Her professional skills include extensive experience in planning, coordinating and implementing international exhibitions with strong problem solving abilities. Having a deep understanding of diverse cultural perspectives and their value in enriching communities her special interests include European multiculturalism and diversity from political and social points of views.
Lecture: Everything you need to know about organising exhibitions
Zita Varga, Museum Educator, Ludwig Museum
Bettina Bali, curator’s assistant, Hungarian National Gallery
Hannah Daisy Foster, Museum of Ethnography
Hannah works as the curator of the Custom and Toy Collection of the Museum of Ethnography, Budapest. Her main research interests are general museum theory, future of museums, museum as dark heritage and posthuman theories.
Lecture: Friction as means of interpretation in a permanent exhibition
Guided tour and conversation in the Collection Exhibition of the Museum of Ethnography. We will explore connections of heritage and museums, focusing on parallel narratives, multivocality, enriching friction and the myth of neutrality.
Katalin Sándor is an art educator and PhD student. She is a member of the Art Education Group at the Faculty of Special Education (BGGYK), Eötvös Loránd University, where she teaches visual arts and environmental culture. She is committed to the principle that everyone has the right to express themselves through art. Her work focuses on supporting people with disabilities in their visual self-expression, primarily based on Éva Sándor’s pedagogical art therapy approach.
Course: 2x90 min.
Create Your Own Vasarely 1.
Create Your Own Vasarely 2
Location: ELTE BGGYK, Room B206
Focus: This two-part (preparatory) course introduces the basics of Op Art through the work of Victor Vasarely. The first 90-minute session focuses on black-and-white visual structures, combining a brief art historical introduction with hands-on exploration of optical effects. The second 90-minute session expands these concepts through the use of color, emphasizing perception, spatial illusion, and individual visual expression.