For 3 nights over 50 museums and exhibitions will come alive in Budapest

The life of 16th-century dervish Gul Baba, Roman archeological finds in Europe’s largest stone archives and the fan of famed 19th-century Hungarian actress-singer Lujza Blaha will be among the new highlights of this year’s Night of Artefacts on June 17-19, the organisers have said.

The three-day summer art festival offers 100 programmes in 50 museums, galleries, art studios, cultural centres and artist’s workshops in Budapest, they told a press conference.

The schedule includes meet-the-artist guided studio tours, thematic walks and workshops in addition to presentations by professionals at museum exhibitions, roundtable discussions and film screenings.

“We strongly believe that art is not only confined to the places behind the doors of a museum, but also surrounds us in our everyday lives and can be found even in the most unexpected places,” Szilvia Kollmann, the festival’s director, said.

“Thus, in addition to paintings, sculptures, archeological finds, photographs, porcelain and ceramics, visitors can also get acquainted with the mysteries of blue fabric dyeing, the secrets of folk handicrafts or the works of internationally renowned, excellent Hungarian glass artists.”

Among the new venues is the recently refurbished Gul Baba cultural centre which will offer insight into the life and work of the 16th-century poet and soldier who had been sent to Buda in 1541 by Sultan Suleiman to set up a Bektashi monastery.