XpatLoop Interview: Erika Baglyas, Artist, Performer & Art Critic

  • 2 Jul 2013 12:00 PM
XpatLoop Interview:  Erika Baglyas, Artist, Performer & Art Critic
Born 1973 in Paks, Hungary. Artist, performer, art critic, lives and works in Budapest.



Graduate of University of Pécs, the Faculty of Visual Arts. In 2004 the Derkovits Gyula Scholarship, in 2008 the Kállai Ernő Scholarship and in the same year the Hungarian Academy in Rome Scholarship she got. She participated in the International Studio Program Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin 2012. She will take part in a 3 Months residency program at Residency Unlimited (RU) in New York from 2013 September and after that she resumes her work with the Hungarian Eötvös Scholarship in Berlin.

Currently, she is finishing DLA Studies at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. The topic of her doctoral research is the Social trauma as life situation – censored mind in the Kádár regime. Her works are defined by the connection of public and private spheres and by the emphasis on intimacy. “One’s own reality is the only reality, because the only truth is the subjectivity” – she writes in a preface to one of her previous exhibitions. Text is an essential part of her works and she frequently uses writing in them. Since 2001 she has created conceptual works, mostly photo, video and object installations and performances that were presented in public places and alternative venues.

Her works often turn to topics with a sociological, psychological or philosophical layer. Beside her creative activity in visual arts she regularly publishes analyses and critiques in art reviews. Her works are to be found both in public and private collections. Her website can be reached here.

1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in the countryside close to the Danube. The name of this very nice place is Dunaföldvár.

2. If you could be an expat anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
At this moment I feel I could spend my life in Lisbon or somewhere in Portugal.

3. What would you miss most if you moved away from Hungary?
Only my family and my close friends.

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
They should meet the Danube somewhere is possible to touch it.

5. What is your favourite food?
Lamb soup with tarragon and after that pancake filled with cottage cheese, home made apricot jam, and a bit cinnamon.

6. What is your favourite sport / form of exercise?
Running.

7. What is your favourite place in Hungary?
There are a lot. I love the whole Káli-medence and some of my favourite waterside places are: Balatonfüred, Lake Tisza by the Tisza River and a small secret place, called Molnár Island, near Budapest.

8. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
No other. I am on my way.

9. What’s a job you would definitely never want?
Bank employee, accountant, dressmaker.

10. Where did you spend your last vacation?
I did not have a real vacation the last year because I took part of an Artist-in-Residence program in Berlin from September for 3 Months. This was both: relaxation and work.

11. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
The most important question is not where but with whom. But, I hope to travel to Portugal in the next year again.

12. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
My favourite band was Pink Floyd and naturally The Wall was the most important film when I was teen, beside this my loved activity was the drawing.

13. Apart of temptation what can’t you resist?
Drink a coffe when I smell the fragrance of it.

14. Red wine or white?
It depends on my mood and food. But recently I prefer the white wine - especially in the summer.

15. Book or movie?
Book and movie and teather and contemporary art.

16. Morning person or night person?
I am absolutely night person. I love to work while the city is sleeping.

17. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?
Personal and social responsibility.

18. Buda or Pest side?
Both of them.

19. Which achievement in your life are you most pleased about?
Meet again with the love and always can be satisfied.

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
The first is an one-line poem from István Kemény, Slogen: Only the quintessence does not leave the sinking ship. And the second one is: Never lose your sense of wonder.

  • How does this interview make you feel?