Dr Diord Sondi
Doctor Diord Sondi, Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary and Director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute.
HUNGARY boasts three national holidays. The oldest of these, August 20, St. Stephen's Day, has become the official holiday of the country.
St Stephen (967-1037) was a Hungar-ian king who was converted to Catholicism in the year 1000. This is when the Hungarian state was born. While the event has been celebrated for centuries, between 1948 and 1988, it was known as the Day of the Constitution (hammered out 65 years ago and, in fact, still in effect today) and the New Bread. The day is solemnly celebrated in any part of the world where there are Hungarians.
The millennium since the coronation of the first Hungarian king and birth of the Hungarian state are marked in Bulgaria too. It was the day chosen for the premiere of a unique exhibition, entitled "The Two Christianities - I", commissioned by the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Sofia, which took place three years ago.
The Bulgarian palace of culture in Budapest was the last venue where this was put on display, after it toured a number of towns in the country. Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg also visited it. "The two Christianities" refers to the two catholic folds - of Rome and Constantinople - that spread from Dalm-atia to Lithuania and from Hungary to Bulgaria.
The second part of the exhibition, "The Two Christianities - II", focused on Bulgaria and is still touring around Bulgaria inspiring true inquisitiveness and curiosity.
The aims of the Hungarian Institute of Culture in Sofia are: a) to search for points of contact between the two cultures, b) to house Bulgarian culture in the building of the Institute, and c) introduce people living all over this country to Hungarian culture. One third of a total 230 events organised by the Institute took place in different towns and villages across Bulgaria. We will try to maintain our work throughout the next academic and school year.
September will be an example of all this. Half of the events planned will be held outside Sofia: in Balchik and Malko Turnovo, festival concerts in Sozopol, Haskovo, Plovdiv, an exhibition of Hungarian cartoonists in Gorna Oriaho-vitsa and an exhibition in Shumen dedicated to historian Geza Feher, who has contributed a lot to the development of Bulgarian archaeology.
The other half will take place in the capital, Sofia. These will include a celebration of Elena Ognianova's 75th anniversary, the debut of a bilingual poem collection by Petia Dubarova, exhibitions of works by Hungarian artist Ester Balash, the Bulgarian Daniela Maksimova and Armenian Arshak Hersissyan, a concert by Hungarian rock star Hobo, a guest visit by the president of the Union of Hungarian writers and literary night featuring Bulgarian performers and a lecture to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Hungarian statesman Ferenz Deak.
Here are some of the other highlights of the Institute's calendar for 2003: a week of modern Hungarian cinema, a round-table discussion entitled "The Significance of Ferenz Rakozzi", a concert by Hungarian band Gimesh, premieres of six Hungarian books translated into Bulgarian and a presentation of the novels of Imre Kertes, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2002.
Other events will be organised together with other institutes, unions, universities, community culture centres, museums and galleries.
In the midst of all this, October 23 will arrive - Hungary's last annual national holiday. On that day we will mark the revolution of 1959 with a solemn celebration. Next year, on March 15, our third national holiday, we will commemorate the 1848 outbreak of the revolution in Budapest.
We are looking forward to seeing you at some of these events, you will be most welcome!
HUNGARY boasts three national holidays. The oldest of these, August 20, St. Stephen's Day, has become the official holiday of the country.
St Stephen (967-1037) was a Hungar-ian king who was converted to Catholicism in the year 1000. This is when the Hungarian state was born. While the event has been celebrated for centuries, between 1948 and 1988, it was known as the Day of the Constitution (hammered out 65 years ago and, in fact, still in effect today) and the New Bread. The day is solemnly celebrated in any part of the world where there are Hungarians.
The millennium since the coronation of the first Hungarian king and birth of the Hungarian state are marked in Bulgaria too. It was the day chosen for the premiere of a unique exhibition, entitled "The Two Christianities - I", commissioned by the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Sofia, which took place three years ago.
The Bulgarian palace of culture in Budapest was the last venue where this was put on display, after it toured a number of towns in the country. Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg also visited it. "The two Christianities" refers to the two catholic folds - of Rome and Constantinople - that spread from Dalm-atia to Lithuania and from Hungary to Bulgaria.
The second part of the exhibition, "The Two Christianities - II", focused on Bulgaria and is still touring around Bulgaria inspiring true inquisitiveness and curiosity.
The aims of the Hungarian Institute of Culture in Sofia are: a) to search for points of contact between the two cultures, b) to house Bulgarian culture in the building of the Institute, and c) introduce people living all over this country to Hungarian culture. One third of a total 230 events organised by the Institute took place in different towns and villages across Bulgaria. We will try to maintain our work throughout the next academic and school year.
September will be an example of all this. Half of the events planned will be held outside Sofia: in Balchik and Malko Turnovo, festival concerts in Sozopol, Haskovo, Plovdiv, an exhibition of Hungarian cartoonists in Gorna Oriaho-vitsa and an exhibition in Shumen dedicated to historian Geza Feher, who has contributed a lot to the development of Bulgarian archaeology.
The other half will take place in the capital, Sofia. These will include a celebration of Elena Ognianova's 75th anniversary, the debut of a bilingual poem collection by Petia Dubarova, exhibitions of works by Hungarian artist Ester Balash, the Bulgarian Daniela Maksimova and Armenian Arshak Hersissyan, a concert by Hungarian rock star Hobo, a guest visit by the president of the Union of Hungarian writers and literary night featuring Bulgarian performers and a lecture to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Hungarian statesman Ferenz Deak.
Here are some of the other highlights of the Institute's calendar for 2003: a week of modern Hungarian cinema, a round-table discussion entitled "The Significance of Ferenz Rakozzi", a concert by Hungarian band Gimesh, premieres of six Hungarian books translated into Bulgarian and a presentation of the novels of Imre Kertes, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2002.
Other events will be organised together with other institutes, unions, universities, community culture centres, museums and galleries.
In the midst of all this, October 23 will arrive - Hungary's last annual national holiday. On that day we will mark the revolution of 1959 with a solemn celebration. Next year, on March 15, our third national holiday, we will commemorate the 1848 outbreak of the revolution in Budapest.
We are looking forward to seeing you at some of these events, you will be most welcome!
