The Hindu : New Delhi News : Hungarian cultural feast for the Capital

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Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008
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New Delhi

Hungarian cultural feast for the Capital

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: To mark the 30th anniversary of its foundation, the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre here will host a two-month-long cultural festival that opens at Hotel Shangri-La this Thursday.

Titled ‘Magyar Masala -- Hungarian Culture in Focus’, the cultural extravaganza will bring together diverse cultural spices of the European country in the form of live concerts, exhibitions, film festival, book release and poetry-reading, tourist promotion programmes and children’s programmes.

Travelling across the country, the festival will also cover Chandigarh, Pune, Chennai and Bangalore.

Organised jointly by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture and the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary, the start with a gala concert here in the Capital.

Jazz concerts

The highlight of the festival will be Jazz concerts by the musician duo of Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and George Vukán at Hotel Shangri-la in New Delhi, Guru Nanak Bhavan in Bangalore and at the South Indian Film Chambers Theatre in Chennai. The duo studied classical music even though their first love is Jazz.

Film Festivals

During the festival there will be two film festivals in Delhi and Chandigarh where various films -- made mostly between 2004 and 2006 -- will be screened. The weeklong film festival will open at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi on January 21 with the inaugural film ‘Rokonok’ (Relatives) made by István Szabó. There will be other films such as ‘Hukkle’ directed by György Pálfi , ‘Dealer’ directed by Benedek Fliegauf and ‘Vagabond’ directed by György Szomjas, besides other films.

Three Hungarian films – ‘Relatives’, ‘Eighth Day of the Week’ and ‘Guarded Secrets’ -- will travel to Chandigarh to take part in the Chandigarh International Film Festival between January 31 and February 6.

Photo-documentary exhibition

The exhibition hall of the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre will put up a one-month-long photo-documentary exhibition on King Matthias on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of his enthronement. On February 4 there will be a lecture and film show to introduce Hungarian Renaissance and the activities of King Matthias.

Connected to the Renaissance programme is well-known Hungarian early music ensemble ‘Custos Consort’ that will perform in New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. It will present 16th and 18th Century Renaissance and Baroque music using special instruments, like viola da gamba, baroque violin, lute and the harpsichord.

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