The art and design festivals and fairs of the world are postponed one by one owing to the exponentially growing coronavirus epidemic. Unfortunately OFF-Biennial Budapest planned to be hosted between April 24 and May 31 shares this fate, too.
It’s only been a month since we announced the third OFF-Biennial, and we didn’t have the slightest idea how relevant this title will be. The fundamental objectives of OFF is to present the local interpretations of political, ecological and social crises, that is global phenomena affecting our entire planet. The dozens of projects planned for this spring all intended to demonstrate the role visual arts could have in liberating our collective imagination necessary for the progressive thoughts and proposals related to the above.
Therefore, the global crisis generated by COVID-19 could not be more relevant to us from a certain point of view. There is not a single project in the third OFF that would not be related closely to the happenings of the past few weeks. Vulnerability to populist regimes, the undeniable existence of an ecological crisis, the relevance of the importance of individual capacity to act, and the new social opportunities lying in small communities are all topics we planned to launch discourses about.– explain the organizers in the press release.
The 2020 OFFwas focused around the climate crisis and individual freedoms, and the title was inspired by Attila József’s poem written in 1935 under the title Levegőt! (Inhale!), which was born amidst the social catastrophe following the largescale economic global crisis. After the current events, the issues raised by this year’s OFF will become even more relevant – the organizers promise that they will not remain silent and they are trying to pick a new date for the festival.
Photo: Museo Aero Solar, 2007, Prato, Italy , 2007, courtesy of Aerocene Foundation
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