COURAGE

Підключення Колекцій

The punk “uniform” was an indispensable element of any image of the Rock Musicians’ Festival in Jarocin. In fact, in 1980s this venue became the most important event for punk and new wave music, even though punks were visibly less numerous than the dominating metal music fans. Still, the colourful and extravagant style and way of being of punks made them an iconic element of the festival.

Although, supposedly the primary punk rule is no rules at all, and nonconformist attitude obliges punks to break any conventions and customs, in practice as early as mid 1980s the punk style in Poland has become highly conventional. Its elements included chucks or heavy boots – due to the lack of access to the preferred bovver boots these could be the so-called “rumuny” (lit. romanians), i.e. Romanian army boots – denim trousers often with torn or rolled-up legs or dyed with vivid colours, leather jackets with painted slogans or band names, badges, pins, and finally the characteristic hairstyles: mohawks and teased hair in striking hues. Particular parts of the apparel are on display in the section dedicated to punk music, which is an element of the permanent exhibition at the Polish Rock Granary.

The painting dates back to the approximately ten-year-long existence of the Zugló Circle, specifically, to the years when its members were influenced by the French abstract expressionism. This period is a brief but important manifestation of Art Informel in Hungary. The trend emphasizing the freedom of expression had special significance in the Hungarian context in the early sixties because it opposed the socialist realist aesthetic principles prescribed by the cultural policy of the Kádár regime. Taking sides with the autonomy of art had a political undertone, which was an important feature not only of the neo-avantgarde endeavours in Hungary but also in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.

The painting is also important from the perspective of exhibition history because it was displayed at the Zugló Circle's exhibition ÚT – Új Törekvések in 1966, which was banned by the Lectorate of the Fine and Applied Arts immediately after the opening. The exhibition was organized at the airport (MALÉV KISZ Club) and included works by Imre Bak, Pál Deim, Tamás Galambos, Endre Hortobágyi, László Lakner, Sándor Molnár and István Nádler. The unusual site was chosen because it would not have been possible to organize an exhibition at an official venue, especially after the group’s banned exhibition at the Academy’s KISZ Club in 1963.

This interview was made shortly before the death of Júlia Rajk, widow of the prominent Hungarian communist leader, László Rajk who was executed in a show trial in 1950. Júlia Rajk spent much of the Rákosi era in prison, and she joined the Party opposition upon her release in 1954. She was a major spokesperson for the renewal of the communist movement in Hungary, and she supported Imre Nagy. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution had been suppressed, she was deported to Snagov (Romania) together with Imre Nagy and others associated with Nagy’s political line. She was released in 1958, Nagy’s execution. She worked as a librarian and archivist until her retirement in 1974, but she was an outspoken opponent of the first secretary of the Party, János Kádár. As Júlia Rajk's biographer said in an interview, “She was the one [among others, one might feel necessary to add] who, like in a Shakespearean drama, continuously reminded Kádár-Macbeth that there was blood on his hands." Júlia Rajk remained a communist until her death, but she never stopped pressing for the rehabilitation of Imre Nagy and she maintained that the communist movement had to get rid of the elite who had taken it over. Considering that she was the mother of one of the most active members of the democratic opposition, László Rajk jr., it comes as no surprise that the regime did not allow anyone to do interviews with her. Péter Bokor nevertheless reached out to her, and he set up an interview in which they cover part of her life, beginning with her involvement in the anti-Nazi opposition and ending with the reburial of László Rajk in 1956.

The interview focuses more on László Rajk than it does on Júlia. It is clear from the conversation that Júlia Rajk was not aware that it was illegal for Bokor to do an interview with her. She repeatedly refers to János Kádár, saying that Bokor should ask Kádár about some detail, because he might have a better grasp of the events, since he had been present for some of the events (unlike her). At the same time, she makes no secret of her opinion of Kádár: she suggests that the entire Party elite should go, since they were seriously corrupt. She also considers the rehabilitation of László Rajk formal and insufficient, since, she claimed, the key point was not to name a street after him, but to draw the right conclusions and democratize the entire social structure. Otherwise, she contended, the communist system would always be founded on lies. Júlia Rajk voiced nonconformist opinions on a series of other issues as well, including the history of the communist Party in Hungary, but the most significant of her contentions were the views just outlined, as they profoundly challenged the legitimacy of the Kádár regime. The interview, of course, was not to be used in any documentary.