Can we live our lives radically differently? Where does the thread of our fate lead? Can we imagine living a life of a completely different quality than heretofore? HAB exhibitions most often explore themes crucial to our human condition, to humaneness, to humanity at large, which also emerge as creative causes in art. One such theme is the possibility of radical change. Amid the multiple crises of today’s world, this is more relevant than ever. Its practical significance cannot be ignored, as being under threat invariably calls for a radical turn in our lives. At the same time, practical change is always accompanied by spiritual and psychological work, and these processes may set in motion a fundamental transformation, while the very basis of our existence may be called into question.

The HAB exhibition Conversion. Radical Encounters explores this change of heart, this volte-face, by presenting a variety of genres, media, perspectives, and attitudes. The material divided into separate sections draws on works by both Old Masters and young contemporary artists, including such superstars as Turner Prize-winner Mark Wallinger, Berndnaut Smilde or Keith Milow. Ostensibly, a common feature of the works is that very few of them represent the experience of conversion; they predominantly invite the viewer to contribute to the work with an active agency.

The insight that we take away from this exhibition may be that a turn of fate is only possible if we let go of the world as we have conceived of it. A turn of fate is therefore a kind of conversion. Not necessarily (or not only) to a specific Judeo-Christian god, nor to a Dionysian archetypal figure of sanctity, nor even to a hollow and abstract transcendence. We arrive at our unveiled truth, whose reality irresistibly invades our lives and takes control of our destiny.

Exhibiting artists:

Cherubino ALBERTI, Nicolas BEATRIZET, Cristofano BERTELLI, András CSÉFALVAY, Gábor ERDÉLYI, Giuseppe GALLI DA BIBIENA, Zoltán KERESZTES, Eszter Júlia KUZMA, Giovanni Antonio LORENZINI, Ádám MAGYAR, Agostino MASUCCI, Erik MÁTRAI, John MAYBURY, Keith MILOW, András MOHÁCSI, NOH Sanghee, Ábel PÉTERFY, Sára RICHTER, Diana SCULTORI, Berndnaut SMILDE, István SZALADJÁK, Veronika SZENDRŐ, Zoltán VADÁSZI, Frederick van VALCKENBORCH, Enea VICO, Mark WALLINGER, Boglárka Éva ZELLEI

Curators: Zoltán Körösvölgyi x Délia Vékony