The Derkovits Gyula Fine Arts Scholarship, which has been abbreviated to Derkó in art circles for decades, was established almost 70 years ago, in 1955, by the then Ministry of Culture and Public Education with the aim of providing financial and professional support to artists under 35 with outstanding talent. In addition to supporting the financial conditions for creative work, the competition also helps to demonstrate the quality and relevance of young artists at all times.

In this exhibition, the works of the young artists during their scholarship period are linked by the characteristics of different life stages and states of being. Accordingly, the exhibition at the HAB Art Centre is organised around the concept of the bardo.  

The title refers to the title of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, but does not follow its didactic content, but rather should be interpreted as a kind of symbol. For while the Tibetan book takes the reader through life, death and the two stages of post-mortem existence in four parts, the thread of the exhibition’s thought is the period between birth and death. 

The ground floor space is the symbol of motherhood, the beginning of femininity. As the body emerges from the womb and the soul begins its journey to Earth, the visitor is led up a spiral staircase to the space above, where the selection follows different stages of existence. The works of art on display invite us to walk around the transitional states experienced between the stages of life and death that appear in one’s existence from the agonizing moment of birth to death and beyond. Understandably, therefore, the great questions of existence arise in everyone: where is the soul going? Where shall we go first? Is there a way back? Can big decisions be changed?

Curators: dr. Noémi Jusztusz, Tünde Sipos

On view: February 26, 2025 – March 30, 2025