Hungarian-Turkish cultural season under way in Türkiye

The 2024 Hungarian-Turkish cultural season is now underway with concerts given by the Pannon Philharmonic in Istanbul and Ankara on Jan 21 and 22, marking the occasion of the Day of Hungarian Culture, the culture and innovation ministry said on Monday.

As well as works by Liszt and Bartók, the orchestra played pieces by Turkish composer Adnan Saygun at the Ataturk Cultural Centre in Istanbul.

Péter Hoppál, government commissioner in charge of the Hungarian-Turkish cultural season, said in his welcoming speech that one hundred Hungarian cultural programmes are getting under way as part of a celebration of the centenary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In parallel, Turkish cultural artefacts will be shown in Hungary throughout the year.

Judit Hammerstein, acting director of the Hungarian National Museum, opened the exhibition of Hungarians who built Türkiye at the Istanbul concert hall, a show that will be presented in several Turkish cities.

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The programmes of the cultural season offer a taste of almost every genre of Hungarian culture in Türkiye, from an exhibition of the collection of the National Bank of Hungary to performances by the Gyor Ballet, the Hungarian National Theatre, photographic shows mounted by the Capa Centre, and science conferences.

As we wrote earlier, the cultural season opened in Budapest on Dec 18 last year, on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Katalin Novák and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, details and photos here.