What do the materials kept in archives reveal about oppositional culture in the era of state socialism thirty years after the change of regimes? What influence did the events which took place at the time have on the culture and political thinking of the era? 

How did the various traditions of thinking differently intertwine with trends at the time, or how did they fray? How might we see ourselves in the mirror provided by the materials kept in archives and various collections?

The exhibition Risk Factors presents the traces of pursuits, acts, and activities which were once undertaken clandestinely or which were pushed to the margins of social life, including traces which are still a palpable part of collective social memory and traces which have been largely forgotten.

Personal initiative, a strong sense of community, and the willingness to accept risk and responsibility are essential preconditions of political and cultural change. The exhibition therefore devotes particular attention to organizational work from below, commitment to a cause, solidarity, and creativity.

Culture and politics were inseparably intertwined in this period, and there is no reason (nor would there be any way) to attempt to disentangle them now, retrospectively.

The archive and the historical collection are not lifeless counterpoles to this dynamic culture, a culture which was committed to social transformation. They are, rather, catalogues of this culture, not to mention tools with which this culture continues to influence society.

The exhibition adopts and presents a fairly broad understanding of cultural resistance.

And while the related activities, themes, methods, and aspirations are varied, the exhibition offers three closely related directions for readings, with the objects organized around the keywords collision, hidden paths, and exit, depending on the extent to which the activities were openly undertaken as a form of political opposition or took other indirect paths as they distanced themselves from the system.

Venue:
Fuga Budapest
1052 Budapest, Petőfi Sándor u. 5