Transsystemic Fantasies: Counterrevolutionary Hungary at Brussels Expo ’58

Abstract

This article explains two paradoxes: Firstly, why did counterrevolutionary Hungary decide to participate in Expo ’58, at a time of great economic stringency and grave political problems? Secondly, it is pointed out that the Hungarian pavilion, if it was to be raised at all, would have been expected to be thoroughly soaked in projections affirming the state-socialist identity of the country and its people. From plans to implementation, however, the pavilion was all but up to such expectations. It had, both in terms of its architecture and in terms of its exhibitions, a distinctly modernist complexion and a universalistic-ecumenistic appeal. On the basis of archival sources related to the politicians, administrators and artists-professionals involved in creating the show, this article explains this transsystemic appeal of the pavilion as a manifestation of the emerging kádárist consolidation and its political and social order.