{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-js","path":"/endre-koronczi-on-representing-hungary-at-the-61st-venice-biennale/","result":{"data":{"wordpressPost":{"id":118215,"slug":"endre-koronczi-on-representing-hungary-at-the-61st-venice-biennale","title":"Endre Koronczi on Representing Hungary at the 61st Venice Biennale","excerpt":"“Only the project matters. I will even postpone a visit to the dentist until after the exhibition opens.”","content":"\n<p><strong>“Only the project matters. I will even postpone a visit to the dentist until after the exhibition opens.”</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>ArtReview</em>&nbsp;sent a questionnaire to artists and curators exhibiting in and curating the various national pavilions of the 2026 Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published daily in the leadup to and during the Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May through 22 November.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Endre Koronczi is representing Hungary; the pavilion is in the Giardini.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Celebrating Visions. Versace partners with </em>ArtReview<em> to share stories from the 2026 Venice Biennale.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-1230x710.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-118222\" srcset=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-1230x710.png 1230w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-600x346.png 600w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-300x173.png 300w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-768x443.png 768w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-1536x886.png 1536w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1230px) 100vw, 1230px\" /><figcaption>Courtesy the artist and the Hungarian Pavilion</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ArtReview&nbsp;</strong><em>Tell&nbsp;</em>ArtReview<em>&nbsp;what you plan to exhibit in Venice. What has influenced or inspired you?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Endre Koronczi</strong>&nbsp;I would prefer not to repeat what is already written in our press materials, the conceptual framework of the project is clearly described there. Beyond that, this work is a very personal adventure. And the more personal it is, the more universal – even commonplace – it becomes. One might say: cosmic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For decades I have been exploring a phenomenon that is mostly invisible and imperceptible, yet to which we attribute immense significance: the movement of air. It is something that fills the world around us with life and meaning. Sometimes we can approach it only through metaphors, at other times through quite concrete physical experiments. At times it manifests as wind, at others as a quiet, everyday sigh. Sometimes it appears only on a microscopic scale, while at other moments it expands to interplanetary dimensions. Yet whether it exists on a subatomic level or in cosmic magnitude, it always carries the presence of life – the manifestation of a living spirit.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exhibition brings together the results of these long-term explorations in an associative way. The installations approach the subject from different perspectives and speak through the languages of different media, while all attempting to articulate the same phenomenon.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pneuma Cosmic</em>&nbsp;is conceived as an imaginary scientific concept that contains a transcendent, ultimately unexplainable dimension. The term describes a phenomenon that points towards infinity both in space and in time – a kind of cosmic flow or sigh. The exhibition seeks to unfold its different layers of meaning.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another important background to the project is&nbsp;<em>Ploubuter Park</em>, an experimental zone I have been developing for nearly two decades. The inspiration originally came from hundreds of cheap plastic bags that had escaped from rubbish bins around shopping centres. For years I chased these drifting bags until a whole system – almost a taxonomy of a newly discovered species – began to emerge from my observations. Out of discarded waste, a choreography of freedom came to life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>In what ways (if at all) does your work relate to the theme of the Biennale exhibition,&nbsp;</em>In Minor Keys<em>?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>When I first read the curatorial text by Koyo Kouoh for&nbsp;<em>In Minor Keys</em>, I almost felt as if I had accidentally come across one of my own texts. For years I have been working with the idea of a vast cosmic sigh and the text begins with the words: ‘Take a deep breath. Exhale. Drop your shoulders. Close your eyes.’</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It felt like a very tangible resonance – more than a coincidence. Perhaps it is something closer to a spirit of the time, a kind of cosmic zeitgeist. Or simply like a moment when two people sigh at the same time at two distant points of the planet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>Why is the Venice Biennale still important, if at all?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>For me, the Venice Biennale is and will remain the most important contemporary art event. Of course, what one considers ‘most important’ is subjective. Since 1993 I have attended every Biennale except one, and since the early 2000s I have always been present during the press days. For those who are truly committed to something, its significance never fades.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>New art events constantly appear in the world, yet the Biennale repeatedly offers a snapshot of what kinds of issues and conflicts are ongoing in each country and the ways in which artists propose to address them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pneuma Cosmic</em>&nbsp;suggests that it is possible I am breathing here in Budapest the very same air particles that Marco Polo inhaled centuries ago.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>What role does a national pavilion play at a time of increasing confrontational nationalisms? Is it about expressing difference or commonality?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>At the Giardini, the national pavilions stand just a few metres apart. I can easily walk from one exhibition to the next, moving from one culture to another – and even take a breath of fresh air along the way. If only the whole world worked like this.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Venice, every nation brings something to place side by side with others. Each wants to show their best and they are curious to see what others have brought. Many visitors do the same. Let this be a model for the entire world.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking directly about a subject that touches you deeply can be very informative and powerful. Yet choosing not to speak directly – to step back from a conflict honestly and openly – can be just as informative and impactful. Recently, we filmed a small portrait piece titled&nbsp;<em>With Muddy Feet in the Gallery&nbsp;</em>(2024). I think the title says a lot about a certain kind of artistic engagement.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-1230x747.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-118224\" srcset=\"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-1230x747.png 1230w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-600x364.png 600w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-300x182.png 300w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-768x466.png 768w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006-1536x932.png 1536w, https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-HungarianScienceAcademy-20240313-0006.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1230px) 100vw, 1230px\" /><figcaption>&nbsp;<em>Trapped Breath,&nbsp;</em>2024, video and installation featuring elements from the ventilation system of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>Who, for you, is the most important artist (in any discipline) that your country has produced?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>My country has given the world countless outstanding artists. We are strong in this and I am proud of it. But I do not want to single one out because that would imply the others are somehow less important. Every artist matters – including those who remain hidden, quietly creating or thinking away from the spotlight.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a previous project, I became deeply interested in the question of unrealised works. I wanted to create a monument to them because these unfulfilled creations are necessary for something important to emerge later. Unfortunately, the project never came to fruition.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pneuma Cosmic</em>&nbsp;is about the idea that (spoiler alert) every sigh and subtle movement in the world is equally important. Each sigh intertwines with the others and cannot be isolated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the pavilion, a video compiling the sighs of many different people accumulated over nearly fifteen years will be on display. Some people are famous and influential, others are anonymous. Yet each of their sighs is an equal part of the collection.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>What is something you want people to know about your nation that they might not know already?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>We are bringing a project to Venice that is filled with quiet, contemplation and the ideal of freedom. Through it, viewers can clearly sense what kind of people we, the creators, are – and that we are part of our nation, even if only a small part.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, we are bringing to Venice the ventilation system of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, one of Hungary’s most symbolic cultural buildings. The ventilation system contains the breaths of those involved in Hungary’s scientific – and in part political – life, their liberated or burdened sighs. With the elements of the historic building unfolded in the pavilion, the breath of science becomes present. Over the course of two centuries, these systems reflect significant shifts in our relationship to science, in our expectations for the future and in the status of knowledge itself.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>Given that you are exhibiting in a national pavilion, is there something (a quality or an issue or attitude) that distinguishes the art of that nation from that of others? That makes it particular? Are there specific contexts that it responds to? Or do you think that art is a universal language that goes beyond social, political or geographic boundaries?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>Yes, I believe that art has the power to transcend social and political boundaries. Lately, I have been experimenting with how a single sigh can extend the limits of a person, more precisely of my own self, as it encompasses the surrounding environment, including inanimate objects. In doing so, I establish a new relationship, for instance with nature, one that enables empathy, imagination and acts of solidarity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think this is a common thread in contemporary art: the way artists perceive the world around them, how they seek to influence social processes, and the role they envision for their work and practice within society.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at the Biennale, one gets the impression that despite radically different historical, political and cultural contexts, the thinking, worldview, and value system of two artists working independently at distant points on the planet often have more in common than those of their immediate neighbours.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the years after the turn of the millennium, a fellow artist friend (Tibor Gyenis) and I created a concept for a new nation: an international nation meant to unite the transnational artistic community into a single entity. The project was so ambitious in its desire to be truly international that in the end, it was never realised.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>What, other than art, are you looking forward to seeing –&nbsp;or doing –&nbsp;while you are in Venice?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>Being in Venice is a joy. I have visited many times before, but this will be the first time I come with work and with responsibility. It will be very different and I will discover a layer of the city I have never known. I will even get to know our electrician Cesare, who has spent his entire life in Venice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>Could you give us a brief overview of your average working day while creating your presentation in Venice?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>For now all other work is set aside, including teaching. Only the project matters. I will even postpone a visit to the dentist until after the exhibition opens.&nbsp;Just over a year ago we won the opportunity to exhibit, and at that moment we thought everything was ready but we have spent the year continually revisiting, reformulating and refining our ideas.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luca Cserhalmi, my curator, and I are working with intangible and invisible things and through this I discovered my own method. I walk regularly and deliberately with weight on my back, which creates a very particular kind of attention directed both inward and outward, inducing a highly alert state of consciousness while at the same time engaging with strangers, movement, physical labour and bodily experience. It is not only my shoes that get muddy – hunger, cold, and the touch of grass all shape the mental pathways I traverse.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also organise communal walks with the goal of practicing this method of observation and reflection as a group. These follow certain strict rules: on some stretches we move together in silence, carefully observing our surroundings, which is followed by moments of discussion and free discourse.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In reality, we are working day and night in various ways to articulate our questions and statements as precisely as possible. And it seems that when one is making statements about invisible phenomena, precision becomes even more essential.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AR</strong>&nbsp;<em>Can art really change the world?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EK&nbsp;</strong>Yes, art can change the world if the world itself is willing to change. And the world, in turn, changes art. But art always wants to change. And it does. So that it can make the world better, as effectively as possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://artreview.com/category/venice-biennale-2026/\"><em>61st Venice Biennale</em></a><em>&nbsp;runs 9 May through 22 November 2026</em></p>\n","path":"/endre-koronczi-on-representing-hungary-at-the-61st-venice-biennale/","format":"standard","date":"19 May 2026","rawDate":"2026-05-19T14:35:15.000Z","branch":{"name":"artreview.com"},"author":{"name":"ArtReview","path":"/author/artreview/"},"category":{"name":"Venice Biennale: Artist Q&As","path":"/category/venice-questionnaire/"},"featured_media":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016.png","caption":"","alt_text":"","media_details":{"width":2000,"height":1154,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-300x173.png","width":300,"height":173},"medium":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-600x346.png","width":600,"height":346},"large":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-1230x710.png","width":1230,"height":710},"wordpress_1536x1536":{"source_url":"https://backend.artreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KoroncziEndre-PneumaCosmic-projectMainImage-20240101-0016-1536x886.png","width":1536,"height":886},"wordpress_2048x2048":null}}},"acf":{"article_artist":null,"article_video":null,"article_audio":null,"article_collaboration":"","article_custom_html_snippet":"","article_featured_title":"","article_featured_description":"","article_highlight":false,"article_custom_link_url":"","hero_image":null,"seo_title":"Endre Koronczi on Representing Hungary at the 61st Venice Biennale","seo_description":"ArtReview sent a questionnaire to artists and curators exhibiting in and curating the various national pavilions of the 2026 Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published daily in the leadup to and during the Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May through 22 November. Endre Koronczi is representing Hungary; the pavilion is in the Giardini.","article_related_articles":[{"id":118185,"title":"Chiara Camoni on Representing Italy at the 61st Venice Biennale","path":"/chiara-camoni-on-representing-italy-at-the-61st-venice-biennale/","author":{"name":"ArtReview","path":"/author/artreview/"},"category":{"name":"Venice Biennale: Artist 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