Cultural Diplomacy In Ludwig Museum

Tastes in art change as frequently as hemlines. The reason behind it is very simple – artists tend to reflect on their thoughts and feelings on the world’s past, present and future. Contemporary exhibitions are not all pop-colored, but at times are littered with paintings, sculptures and photographs that depict global problems.

Modern artists are known for their rigorous expressions of current political, social and economic issues. World famous Ludwig Museum in Budapest is a home of so-called “cultural diplomacy” exhibitions. These permanent and temporary exhibitions enable young artists from all over the world to get their message across, to provoke thoughts, to raise attention to the universal matters. “Cultural Diplomats” are latest art talents to hit the scene, they share fears, believes and hopes of six billion human beings living on the Earth. The works of “diplomats” are there not only to please the visitors with its esthetical beauty but also to dare society, to shine through with a spirit of audacity and creativity. Ludwig Museum has its branches in 17 countries; the one in Hungarian capital has a vast collection of modern art, dated from the 1960’s to 2013.

Exhibitions in Ludwig Museum make an impression of time travelling and geographical magic to its visitors. Back in the twentieth century western painters,photographers and musicians expressed their protests against severe political crisis: Apartheid, the war in Vietnam; experienced a major influence of hippie youth movement, pacifism, and rise of the embryonic culture of Rock’n’Roll. Ludwig’s collection infiltrated the entire major art themes: the last period of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces, Swedish painter Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. There is a great retrospective of the infamous founder of the Pop art movement, Tom Wesselmann, as well as works of lyrical and sensual Richard Hamilton. Ludwig museum also gave a spotlight to some phenomenal Hungarian artists. Their paintings express fusion of feelings and emotion. Heralding the beginning of the new era, these Hungarian artists expressed their views; at times they were more androgynous, then with shifts of the decades works would get more ethereal. In 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Hungarian artists were not afraid to master their identities, to bring the sense of reinvention to the contemporary art scene. Slowly, we got to the temporary exhibition, which is held in the Ludwig Museum these days.