Viktória Popovics
area: Curator, Theory
Key Facts
nationality
Hungarianarea
Curator, Theoryresidence
Dunaharasztirecommending institution
tranzit.org / ERSTE Stiftungtime period
July 2023 - July 2023Viktória Popovics is an art historian and curator based in Budapest.
She has been working at the Ludwig Museum – Museum for Contemporary Art Budapest since 2014, where she contributed to several large-scale exhibitions focusing on Central and Eastern European art. (Ludwig Goes POP - The East Side Story(2015), Permanent Revolution. Ukrainian Art Today (2018), IPARTERV50+. The Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde (2019), Slow Life. Radical Everyday (2021), Handle with CARE (2023). Her academic interest centers around female artists and women’s issues in Central and Eastern Europe; in recent years she has focused on the representation of motherhood in contemporary art. Intersection between art and feminism from trans-regional perspectives is the topic of the research seminar titled Narrating Art and Feminism: Eastern Europe and Latin America she is currently involved in. (Connecting Art Histories Initiative, Getty Foundation, 2021-2023). She was part of the international research project Secondary Archive. Platform for Women Artists from Central and Eastern Europe. She is PhD fellow of the Eötvös Loránd University Doctoral Program and from 2020 a member of the Hungarian Section of AICA.
During the residency at MQ Viktória Popovics works on a curatorial essay related to the exhibition Handle with CARE (15 September 2023 – 14. January 2024), to be shown at the Ludwig Museum Budapest.
The exhibition concept departs from the crisis of care prevalent on interpersonal, economic, political, and ecological level. The title “Handle with Care” refers to the fragility of life, the vulnerability of individuals and marginalized communities, to the cracks in the social care system and at the same time is an urgent call for ecological care. However, museums and cultural institutions are vulnerable too. In a time of multiple crises, questions arise on the social role of the museum, and on its traditional functions, which are being expanded. How can museums - beyond the careful handling of artworks – be more inclusive, community-facing and engaged in the debates of our time? How can artistic and curatorial practices position themselves about the prevailing crisis of care? What are the basic pillars of more CARING institutions? How can a museum be transformed into more “relevant” places? The wide variety of museums and the alternative cultural spaces in Vienna, the vivid local art scene would be important source of inspiration to work on this project during the residency.