21 June, Wednesday – 1 July, Sunday | Hírös Agora | Room nr. 105
Opening: 21 June | Thursday 18:00
The exhibition is opened by writer János Bán
The Bubble Talkers exhibition presents the 150-year history of this special form of visual storytelling through the works of the greatest Hungarian graphic novel artists.
In Hungary, captioned drawing strips by Hungarian and foreign artists were published as early as the first couple of decades after the appearance of the first comic magazines. Of these, the first work that could formally be considered a graphic novel was by caricaturist János Jankó, based on Mór Jókai’s text, serialized in the comic magazine Üstökös ("Comet") After that, countless such comic series were published in comic and children’s magazines between 1873 and 1919. Later, other weekly and numerous daily papers started regularly publishing graphic series made by Hungarian illustrators, such as Nándor Honti, and then his word-bubble graphic novels between 1920 and 1945.
The trend continued after the Second World War, with comics experiencing a true renaissance in Hungary after 1957. During this period, graphic artists, illustrators, caricaturists and animated film directors created a variety of graphic novels from 1950 to 1980. The visually most outstanding pieces of Hungarian graphic novels were made in this period, by artists such as Attila Dargay, Pál Korcsmáros, Imre Sebők and Ernő Zórád. Around the change of the political system, foreign comics started to gain more popularity, but works by Hungarian authors, including Attila Fazekas, were also published, mostly as separate volumes or books between 1981 and 2004. After 2005, a new generation of graphic artists started creating graphic novels working in collectives, presenting their works in exhibitions and often publishing them independently. Now a huge fan base developed through graphic novel festivals and the internet.
The exhibition about the 150 years of Hungarian comics presents works by Hungarian graphic novelists divided into these periods, showcasing through visually stunning installations, highlighting the connection between comics and animation.
