No one belongs here more than you

Presentation of Artistic Collaborations

A decision process based on the principal of simple majority presupposes a democratically operating community. While, for the community, a sense of belonging is of crucial significance, for the individual who takes an active role in it, it is the sense of freedom that is important. Collective thinking, the time spent together, mutual inspiration, as well as the crises and the debates are all essential elements of a shared creative process. But to what extent is there a tendency for collaboration on the Hungarian contemporary art scene? To what degree are the objectives shared and how do individual ideas develop in the creative process? Can a functioning community be realized in practice, or is the mere desire for community insufficient in itself for realizing and maintaining it? In an attempt to answer these questions, the exhibition offers a debut opportunity to young artist groups, for whom the creative process goes hand in hand with community-based thinking.

The Hungarian and English titles of the exhibition offer at least two different takes on community: approached from the vantage point of the individual, on the one hand, and of the majority, on the other. Simple Majority, in addition to the aforementioned decision mechanism, also carries the tensions of the individual and the community: unity comes at a price, and this price sometimes happens to be freedom itself. Thus, the collective act of creation also serves to prompt the continuous rethinking of personal freedom. No One Belongs Here More Than You* attempts to respond to a doubt, which constantly resurfaces in collaborative work, unsettlingly questioning the role of the individual and the necessity of his/her presence.

These groups, thanks to the collective creative process, explore problems in art from various perspectives, while often establishing a certain ideal, which the collective work is to be aligned with. This time around, the spaces of Műcsarnok / Kunsthalle Budapest serve a dual function: the exhibition rooms, in addition to their traditional role of displaying the artworks, constitute a work/collective space, in which the artists themselves are also present. The loosely connected, weekly events, which touch on various genres, take place with the participation of the groups. During this one-month festival-like event, thematic discussions, theater presentations, film programs, performances and parties are also organized.

* quote from Miranda July