Exhibition for Our Parents
The BORSOS LŐRINC formation was established by artists János BORSOS and Lilla LŐRINC in 2008. They were both raised in Székesfehérvár and they are currently living there. Their collaborative works reflect upon political, religious and social phenomena in the language of painting and other media.
The exhibition in the King St. Stephen Museum of Székesfehérvár presents the oeuvre of the artists, starting from kindergarten up to the present day. By giving complete freedom to the curators of the exhibition, ie their own parents, the artists not only put their artworks into an unusual point of view, but also raises questions regarding the parent-child relationship, the artists social role or the curatorial work.
“In the course of our work, we often realize that our desire to satisfy our parents has infiltrated our work. We would like to assure them that they did not make the wrong decision when they allowed us, in our childhood, to engage in what we truly loved, by entering an artistic career. Ever since, they are our most significant sponsors – in both a material and a psychological sense. They support us even when they don’t understand what we are dealing with, and why. Despite this, they feel an increasing motivation in understanding our artworks, and we are able to have conversations about them – touching upon both the art and the judgement of artists. By now they do not shrink back from initiating a discourse about our concepts, or even racking their brains over new ideas. At first we didn’t know how to handle this situation, but now we feel that the time has come to give them free reign over an exhibition, allowing them complete insight into the process of creation.”-Borsos Lőrinc
- The title of the exhibition is "Exhibition for Our Parents".00:00:19.000
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- It is undecided whether it was realized for our parents00:00:23.001
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- or by our parents, for us.00:00:28.002
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- Our goal was primarily to learn more about their angle on art,00:00:31.003
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- to present their concept about art as it is,00:00:36.004
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- their thoughts as lay people who are not professionally involved in art.00:00:39.005
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- We wanted to show their approach towards contemporary art.00:00:45.006
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- So the curators are Lilla's and my own parents00:00:50.007
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- who have been monitoring our work since nursery school00:00:53.008
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- and made this exhibition possible along a personal chronology.00:00:57.009
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- Mr János Borsos00:01:01.010
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- Mrs Borsos00:01:03.011
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- Mr. László Lőrinc00:01:08.012
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- Mrs Lőrinc, Rózsa Paksi00:01:13.013
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- They were given a free hand to choose whichever work they liked,00:01:18.014
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- from any age. Actually, our goal was to get them involved00:01:23.015
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- in the process of creation, in the work of organizing an exhibition,00:01:28.016
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- to create the concept along which our works are selected,00:01:33.017
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- to help us plan the exhibition space.00:01:37.018
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- We prepared the site together, had a lot of discussions00:01:40.019
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- and let them select whatever they wished,00:01:43.020
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- their favourites.00:01:47.021
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- We also asked them to come up with captions00:01:48.522
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- because they remembered personal stories00:01:51.323
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- in connection with most of the works they selected.00:01:55.324
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- We considered it important to share these stories with the audience00:02:00.625
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- because we would not normally exhibit some of these works00:02:05.326
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- but in this setting, all of them have a legitimate place00:02:10.327
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- and all of them are part of our lifetime achievement.00:02:15.328
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- This way, we do not have to brush them aside,00:02:19.329
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- but bring them out to the front.00:02:24.330
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- Part of it is wanting to prove ourselves to our parents,00:02:27.000
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- to live up to their expectations,00:02:31.001
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- explore and understand our own motivations.00:02:34.002
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- This whole year was full of interesting experiences.00:02:38.003
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- We've been building this exhibition throughout the whole year00:02:41.004
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- and we got much closer to our parents00:02:45.005
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- by allowing them an inside look into our profession.00:02:48.006
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- Their generation is used to working00:02:54.007
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- in the same factory or workplace for 30-40 years00:02:57.008
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- whereas we are close to living from day to day.00:03:01.009
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- The divide between the two ideologies and ways of life is huge.00:03:05.010
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- What I wanted was to bring the two00:03:12.011
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- a little bit closer to each other,00:03:15.012
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- to help them overcome their feelings of anxiety00:03:18.013
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- over something that they see as chaos and total uncertainty.00:03:21.014
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- We wanted to show them that our way of life is just as valid as theirs00:03:25.015
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- and that even though rules are different in this world,00:03:29.016
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- they still work. And I think they liked it.00:03:32.517
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- We exhibited recent works in the inner space,00:03:36.001
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- works that are related to the parent-child relationship00:03:39.002
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- to some extent, the works they have chosen:00:03:43.003
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- their favorites, our awards and sellings.00:03:47.004
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- The most important thing for me about this exhibition00:03:52.505
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- is the space where we show the making of the exhibition,00:03:55.506
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- what was going on behind the scenes - because we documented everything -00:03:59.507
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- in a 30-minute video about the project.00:04:05.508
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- That is the heart of it all, I believe.00:04:08.509
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- For us, it feels a little bit like a family therapy with our parents00:04:12.510
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- where we share our perspectives00:04:17.511
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- and get to know each other's motives.00:04:20.512
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- Also, it is an exploration of my unconscious attempts00:04:23.513
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- at thwarting my parents' influence on me.00:04:27.514
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- I have noticed that sometimes I do exactly the opposite of00:04:30.515
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- what is expected from me and I am unable to fulfill their wishes00:04:34.516
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- or heed these small advices.00:04:38.517
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- So this is a great challenge to master by making this exhibition00:04:41.518
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- - a form of self-denial.00:04:46.519
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- Here they get everything they need to take over and00:04:49.520
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- dream up and create this whole thing all by themselves,00:04:53.521
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- such as for example paint the walls to a color of their liking00:04:57.522
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- or exhibit any work they see fit,00:05:01.523
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- even the ones we would not boast about.00:05:04.524