Blood Mountain Foundation

About
Blood Mountain Foundation is an arts organisation providing new discourse about contemporary visual culture and creative thought through curatorial and education programmes, artists residencies and special projects.

H-1025 Budapest Vrhalom utca 27/c Hungary +36 1.326.18.44 info@bloodmountain.org www.bloodmountain.org

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Blood Mountain Foundation

Mission
The mission of Blood Mountain Foundation (BMF) is to generate fresh ideas and to encourage the production of new art sensitive to its location in Budapest and to Hungarys broader socio-political context as a new member state of the European Union. Central to BMFs objective is the belief that art is an agent for social change and its open discourse and unrestricted practice are fundamental to the life of a participatory democracy. BMF is the Hungarian component of an international exchange programme supporting contemporary visual culture and the discourse of intelligent thought about art, history, contemporary life and all things engrossing and challenging at a grass-roots level. Its aim is to attract creative thinking and production to Hungary and similarly, to promote local talent to the broader international arts community through an ambitious programme of artists residencies, exhibitions and events, publications and special projects.

History
One of Hungarys most significant contributions to recent world affairs was to unveil the last frontier between Eastern and Western Europe in 1989: to open its border with Austria more commonly known as the periphery of the Iron Curtain. Two decades later, BMF aims to overcome the divide that still distinguishes Hungarys artistic life from abroad by facilitating not the obvious migration of contemporary culture (East to West), but its very opposite (West to East). Hungarys eventful history and unique language, which to this day stands in stark contrast to its Slavic-speaking neighbours, are largely responsible for the outsider position that has befallen its cultural identity. Much of its cultural character is attributed to its many foreign invaders, which included 150 years of Ottoman domination during the 16th to 17th centuries and 51 years of governance by the Habsburg monarchy (1867-1918). Followed by a brief Golden Age between the two world wars and a 17-day revolution in 1956, Hungary endured another four decades of foreign occupation by the Soviets. Hungarys liberation in 1989 is therefore more complex and significant than the mere overthrow of Communism, as it was the first time in almost 500 years that Hungary became a sovereignty. While Hungary is responsible for many 20th century talent exports in the fields of physics, mathematics and economics amassing more Noble prize winners per capita that anywhere outside Scandinavia in the humanities, achievements were largely confined to the fields of literature, classical music, film and photography. Brassa, Andr Kertsz and Robert Capa are synonymous with the history of 20th century photography, similar to the many Hungarians who founded the American film industry. Yet in the visual arts, with the exception of Lszl Moholy-Nagy, the role of Hungarian artists has gone largely unnoticed in the broader context of art history, and even on home territory, those who succeeded often imbued the stylistic and thematic devices of their contemporaries abroad. As a consequence, it is impossible to underplay the importance of Hungarys socio-political evolution during the past 20 years and its impact on the visual arts, where a fresh contemporary voice is coming to fruition. Prompted by the possibilities of this zeitgeist, one of BMFs ambitions is to encourage Hungarian artists to engage with the ideas and practices of its visiting artists and its other curatorial and educational intiatives. In the near future, BMF will also provide Hungarian and other regional talent with similar opportunities abroad.

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Blood Mountain Foundation

Venue
BMF is based in a neo-baroque villa in the Buda district of Rosehill in Budapest. The location a former Habsburg era family estate located on Vrhalom utca (Blood Mountain street), site of one of the bloodiest battles during the 150-year Ottoman occupation symbolises Hungarys complex history and diverse cultural influences. The setting therefore aims to encourage the production of new work sensitive to the organisations location and to the citys broader socio-historical context. The venue provides all facilities onsite and encourages regular visits from local and international industry stakeholders and the public. Provisions 140 square metres of living, working and exhibiting space on one level, including core amenities (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, studio), essential furniture and internet Excellent natural and artificial light Central location (5km from downtown, ten minutes walk from the banks of River Danube), providing easy pedestrian and public transport access to major cultural institutions, tourist attractions and sporting facilities Convenient proximity to managements administrative offices and living quarters.

BMF_Entrance

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Blood Mountain Foundation

BMF_Study

BMF_Exhibition Space

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Blood Mountain Foundation

Organisation
BMF is a not-for-profit arts organisation managed by a Director and a Board of Trustees. It is a registered charity in Hungary and given the international spectrum of its board and ambitions, it aspires to become an integral component of the local arts community and a significant contributor to the broader industry discourse abroad. BMF facilitates a public cause and at all stages makes its curatorial and managerial activities transparent. Where possible, it also seeks the opinions and contribution of the industry and the public. Central to BMFs mission to support independent creative thought and practice, is a commitment to securing funding outside the framework of government sponsorship. This is particularly important in the context of Hungary, where arms-length funding bodies, such as Arts Council England, do not exist and constitutional support for all forms of culture is overseen by the Ministry of Culture. As a result, government support for the visual arts is directly affected by political life and is often regarded as one of the first casualties of Hungarys changing political climate. BMFs unique position as an independent arts organisation with affiliations in both the public and private sectors, aspires at once to provide the broader community with unrivalled access to fresh ideas and new talent, and to ensure BMFs long-term future, financial stability and curatorial verve. BMF is an equal opportunities organisation: matters of age, race and disability do not affect the selection of candidates for its programme, staff, curatorial and trustees boards. Board of Trustees Todd Bishop Director of Exhibition Funding for MoMA & PS1, The Museum of Modern Art, New York Edwin Heathcote Cultural Critic of The Financial Times, London Rhodri Ellis-Jones Director of Ellis Jones Communications, Melbourne & Zagreb Rka Pigniczky Correspondent for Associated Press, New York & Independent Documentary Filmmaker, Budapest Tom Sloan Director of Blood Mountain Productions, Budapest & Melbourne Management Jade Niklai Director If you would like to support or become involved with BMF, please contact us by email (info@ bloodmountain.org ) or phone (+36 1.326.18.44 | +36 30.415.21.23).