University Spring begins in Szeged
SZEGED, Hungary — The University of Szeged (SZTE) will launch its annual University Spring (Egyetemi Tavasz) cultural series this week, offering nearly two months of programs across 70 venues with more than 300 events, organizers said Wednesday.
The program lineup includes exhibitions, scientific and public lectures, conferences, theater premieres, concerts and other cultural events open to both the university community and the wider public.
Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Rector for Strategy Márta Széll cited Nobel Prize-winning scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi, a former rector of the university, saying the institution’s mission is to serve as the intellectual center of Hungary’s Great Plain.
SZTE has organized the University Spring and the Autumn Cultural Festival for decades, opening its campuses to audiences and providing a platform for both student artists and established performers.
Although the official opening ceremony is scheduled for Monday evening, the program series begins earlier. A student arts competition will be held Thursday, followed by an exhibition Friday at the Fekete House featuring works submitted to the Budapest Illustration Festival. On Saturday, the university’s botanical garden will host a cherry blossom celebration.
One of the festival’s recurring events, “Vers délben” (Poem at Noon), will return this year. University staff and residents will recite poems daily after the noon bell at the statue of Albert Szent-Györgyi on Dugonics Square. The series will open Monday with readings by humanities student Noa Pálma Vajda and Chancellor Judit Fendler.
The official opening event will take place in the atrium of the university’s main building, where an exhibition of selected works from the University Photo Competition will open and awards from university cultural contests will be presented.
The festival program also features a wide range of theater productions. The Kövér Béla Puppet Theatre will stage A Patkányfogó projekt (The Ratcatcher Project), while the Genéziusz Theatre will premiere a new play inspired by American philosopher Edmund Gettier’s epistemological problem. The University of Szeged Theater will perform Dezső Kosztolányi’s Édes Anna and Nincsenapám, seanyám (I Have Neither Father nor Mother). The Szeged National Theatre will reprise Kék Tesla (Blue Tesla), and the Metanoia Artopédia and Laboratory Theatre will present a production honoring former SZTE student László Krasznahorkai.
Krasznahorkai, a Nobel Prize-winning author, is also expected to attend the festival. He will appear in a multidisciplinary production based on his 2019 volume Mindig Homérosznak (Always to Homer) at the university’s József Attila Study and Information Center. His visit, during which he will receive honorary citizenship of Szeged, will include additional discussions and professional events.
Literary programs will feature the presentation of Ott maradtok egymásnak (You Will Remain for Each Other), a new poetry collection by writer Krisztián Grecsó, and historian Péter Miklós’s book Radnóti szegedi világa (Radnóti’s World in Szeged).
Concerts scheduled as part of the festival include performances by Japanese pianist Hiroko Minakami, Mongolian singer Liu Wei, the Hungarian-Brazilian band Duckshell and Péterfy Bori & Love Band. Szeged’s long-running acoustic blues group Rambling Blues will also perform.
The Szeged Symphony Orchestra will give a concert at the Votive Church, while violinist Ferenc Szecsődi will perform Egy szerelem története (A Love Story) with the Benedekfi brothers. The Universitas Symphony Orchestra will also hold its traditional spring concert during the festival.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
Featured image only for illustration. Credit: Szegedify / Szilvia Molnar
