The Apology of the Escapologist was the reformed Krétakör’s first large-scale endeavour, with which we intended to declare our artistic and social goals. We coined the designation ‘city therapy’ for the site-specific, multidisciplinary, social artwork. The event series, realised between March 8 and May 1, 2009, used contemporary art’s instruments to hold a mirror to an increasingly atomised Hungarian society.

In the Overture we set up and operated six cars carrying moving installations – apparently ordinary, but playful within – at various points in Budapest.

The exhibition titled Ditch consisted of two parts: in Cemetery the six cars from the Ouverture were visible, as well as the cars’ burned-out doubles; while the event titled GaP was an experimental creation somewhere between film and installation, combining a slideshow and projected video footage. Those interested could follow the story of a man (Árpád Schilling) and the associations unfolding from it in forty projected slides; or, through televisions placed in one corner of the space, that of a woman giving birth.

The second act was titled Labhotel, and housed in Krétakör’s Base on Gönczy Pál street. Spectators arriving here became participants in an environmental theatre performance; the story, running in two threads, explored two possible variants of a family’s disintegration.

In the third act, titled ArtProletarz, we realised three community performances. Three female directors (Márta Schermann, Bea Nagy, and Adél Kollár) were free to choose their teams and methods in creating productions around the theme of salvation. These sought intrinsically to push boundaries; their collaborators became co-creators of the work process.

In the Finale on May 1st we called together everyone who took part in the event series’ previous stations. We asked them to deposit all the items and thoughts of which they hoped to be liberated with us, and thus relieved, to complete a short, musical march together. Our path took us to the parking lot by the Freedom bridge’s Pest-side bridgehead: combining our forces, we turned it into a park where we could picnic together. From here we proceeded, singing, to the Krétakör Base, where we closed the nearly two month-long series with serenades and released balloons.

CAST

Artistic director: Árpád Schilling
Production manager: Máté Gáspár
Technical director: András Éltető
Financial director: Péter Vámosi
Artistic collaborator: Péter Fancsikai
Artproletarz-coordinator: Márton Gulyás
Office manager: Zsuzsa Reményi
PR, communication: Dávid Udvardy

Visual designer: Márton Ágh
DOP: Mátyás Erdély
Editor: Szilvia Papp
Music: Bálint Bolcsó, Imre Lichtenberger-Bozoki, Marcell Dargay
Directors: Adél Kollár, Bea Nagy, Márta Schermann, Árpád Schilling
Assistant to the director: Adél Kollár
Documentary film: Balázs Féjja, Ferenc Gerendai, Zsolt Hunyadkürti, Gábor Péter Németh, Viktor Németh, József Szabados, Csaba Tóth 

18 Plusminus: Mária Bánfalvy, Viktor Baradlay, Sára Belecz, Zoltán Belényesi, Éva Blaskó, Panna Bodor, Beáta Brecz, Dorottya Csákány, Tibor Csáky, Rózsa Csányi, Kata Csomor, József Dencsi, Sándor Dessewffy, Marika Fekete Tóth, Sziszi Gonda, Otília Horváth, Janka Jáger, Zsolt Kapelner, Lili Anna Kurucz, Márta Lőrinczi, Attila Molnár, András Nyírő, Szandra Papp, Judit Pataki, Zoltán Petróczi (Lady Dömper), Tamás Polánszky, Lajos Sárközy, Péter Takács, Ilona Verőné

Musicians: Mátyás Ölveti, Csongor Veér, Péter Mező, Péter Kondor

Singers: Kata Tüske, Réka Szász, Dóra Rácz, Nóra Rácz, Kinga Pap, Alma Nagy, Eszter Légrády, Killa Köllő, Sarolta Komlósi, Klára Kassay, Éva Juhász, Marietta Hajdó, Luca Döme, Klára Cserne, Krisztina Bognár, Judit Biksz, Szaffi Asbóth

Oxitocin: Anna Weiszburg, Barbara Villei, Balázs Sebestyén, Rita Rózsavölgyi, Judit Répás, Vanda Sarolta Petrucz, Sára Petrucz, Annamária Paulovics, Judit Pataki, Márta Neobauer, Andrea Nagy, Linda Lisztes, Dávid Kresalek, Samu Gryllus, Ilona Gaál, Judit Forgács, Sándorné Dzsaja, Krisztina Dragonya, Mária Dezsenyi, Sándor Dessewffy, Ferenc Dávid, Kati Cser, Katalin Acsai

Open Courtyard: Alíz Miklusicsák

Brick Out Marathon: András Szalai

LaborHotel: Jeanne Candel, Péter Fancsikai, Zsolt Nagy, Juliette Navis Bardin, Ernő Zoltán Rubik, Lilla Sárosdi, Árpád Schilling, Franciska Schilling, Sándor Terhes, Orsi Tóth, Milán Újvári, Marc Vittecoq

Walk Forever: Ferencné Borsos, Lajos Csala, László Dóka, Béla Duka, Gyuláné Fekete, Magda Gergely, Győző Janda, Hajnalka Kertész, László Kertész, János Kiss, Marika Kiss, András Kovács, Ilona Kurucz, Erika Lakatos, Nelli Ligeti, Ildikó Majtényi, Sándor Polgár, Marika Rizmayer, Ildikó Strausz, Péter Takács, Sándor Varaka, Jenőné Vlasics, Mátyás Zavecz, Mária Mátyásné Zavecz

Fotó: Fancsikai Péter, Tóth Ridovics Máté, Udvardy Dávid

PRESS

• Miklós Melánia: A valóság (mint) lehetőség. Revizor online, 07. 03. 2010.
   
• Varga Sándor Márton: Csak láncainkat veszthetjük? Szinhaz.net, 31. 01. 2010.
   
• Zelki János: Ki szabadul?, Litera.hu, 09. 05. 2009. (interview)
   
• Eszter Balassa: Új formákat szeretnénk. Interview with Máté Gáspár, managing director of Krétakör. Prae.hu, 18. 03. 2010.
   
• Vera Sors: A nézés kettős aktusa. MU.hu, 01. 01. 2010. (interview)
   
• Szabadulóművészet. Est.hu, 25. 03. 2009. (interview)
   

•