Cultural programs

On the 17th of December from 5 pm

The Other - Ancient myths, fatal delusions, cultural diversity, the featured exhibition of the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue, opened on the 26th of September.

The exhibition, following the original idea of the Museum of Ethnography of Geneva is based on Claude Lévi-Strauss’s famous 1952 work, Race and History. Lévi-Strauss’s aim was to deconstruct racial and ethnic prejudices and question the ideology of racism. Despite the time that has passed since its publication, his ideas are still relevant and have a special resonance with the key issues that modern societies are facing at the moment.

Claude Lévi-Strauss is celebrating his 100th birthday this year. In honour of the spiritual father of the exhibition, the Museum of Ethnography and the Artemisszió Foundation have organized a series of special programs.

On the 17th of December the Museum of Ethnography (Budapest, Kossuth Lajos tér 12.) will open its doors to those interested in Lévi-Strauss’s ideas and teaching. On this day, from 3 pm The Other exhibition can be visited free of charge. From 5 pm a roundtable of important contemporary intellectuals will be discussing the impact of Lévi-Strauss on Hungarian intellectual and academic life.

Participants of the roundtable discussion: Zoltán Fejős, Anna Losonczy, Veronika Görög Karády, János Kelemen.
Moderator: Balázs Lévai

The birthday celebration will be completed by the screening of the 1991 film About Tristes Tropiques on Lévi-Strauss’s work. A special guest will be one of the directors of the film, Patrick MENGET. The discussion between the audience and the director will be moderated by Ildikó Kristóf. The event if FREE!

More information: Tánya Rónai
E-mail: ronai@neprajz.hu
Tel: (36 1) 473 24 41

Lecture series apropos of The Other exhibition
at the Museum of Ethnography
First lecture: 11 December 2008.
Further Lectures: 15 January 2009, 19 February 2009, 12 March 2009, 26 March 2009.

The Museum of Ethnography has launched a 5-piece lecture series where some of the greatest representatives of cultural anthropology in Hungary and abroad talk about their fieldwork experiences, the relationship between the researcher and the researched and the formation of mutual images of the Other in the course of research.
The first lecture will be presented on the 11th of December by British anthropologist Michael Stewart who has become famous with his book titled „Brothers in Song” based on his fieldwork among the Vlach Gypsies in Hungary.

Lectures and dates in the series:
11 December 2008 (Thursday), 5pm
Michael Stewart: How does the Gypsy become the „Other”– some historical and contemporary considerations

15 January 2009. (Thursday) 5pm
Ákos Östör: Being there, understanding, portraying –fieldworks in India

19 February 2009. (Thursday) 5pm
Anna Losonczy: „The homely stranger”

12 March 2009. (Thursday) 5pm
Zoltán Fejős: Emigrants – the boundaries of „us” and „them”

206 March 2009. (Thursday) 5pm
Gábor Vargyas: Everyday exotica. The Other in the mountains of Central Vietnam

Further information:
Gabriella Szalmási
press relations and professional communications
Museum of Ethnography
Tel: (36 1) 473 24 23
Cell phone: (36) 30 558 77 42
gabriella.szalmasi@neprajz.hu