Introduction

I have been studying for 24 years almost without a pause. Though I wanted to become an astronomer and an interior designer, I attended a music school and went on painting courses. For me, the practice and theory of art are equally important in all aspects, as are physical creation and “scholarly” investigation, research, openness and a critical attitude. Over the years spent in public education, I have come to know numerous constructive approaches—and even more ones that were rigid, counterproductive or even threatened to harm young people. I am convinced that posing a question can get you further than a statement; that rejecting dogma is liberating; and that what an openness towards new and unfamiliar things invites is not fear but opportunity.

Besides my work as an artist, I regularly participate in educational projects at institutions ranging from the Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum to the Kolorádó Festival. I believe that visual art plays a decisive role in shaping a conscious relation to visuality and creative and critical thinking. I often work in a team or some form of collaboration, which addresses social and ecological problems by involving different age groups and using creative, project-specific approaches.

I have been working with contemporary visual art for over 25 years and have always considered it the best field to practise critical thinking. Contemporary art often addresses familiar issues by questioning established modes of operation and boldly broaching taboo subjects. That is badly needed today in all areas of social life, be it education, politics, humanity or the preservation of the Earth. I believe that the way to empowerment is through shaping mindsets, and we must help young people along this path.

What makes for a good group and a good community? Why is it beneficial to belong somewhere? What does it mean to define a goal together and to collaborate? As a sociologist, I am interested in how you can reflect on social phenomena and act formatively. The fascination of groups is how to manifest the knowledge every individual has and how the members of a community can recognise each other’s values and channel them in the same direction towards creativity, action and solidifying their shared interests. I work with real life and real situations, whether they be change, joy, success, challenge, conflict, loss or grief. Any problem may be shaped into a positive process if a community is based on shared democratic principles and works on creating a new quality of being together.

I worked as a journalist for ten years and won some of the highest Hungarian accolades for investigative journalism. Currently, I support NGOs as a freelance journalist and media analyst and teach introductory courses in philosophy and creative thinking at the Budapest Metropolitan University. I occasionally hold dialogue and self-development group sessions and participate in social development projects that aim to improve the culture of dialogue and reasoning. In these efforts, I experiment with the various practical uses of the methods and traditions of philosophy. I research the broader social applicability of philosophy at the Doctoral School of Philosophy at the University of Szeged.

The most characteristic trait that defines my professional approach is enthusiasm for things new and old. I am a film historian enchanted by old movies and the customs of bygone ages. I am also eager to learn how those who are younger than me think. I like to try out new things, including new methodologies in teaching and new fields of research. It is essential for me never to stop learning. My favourite gesture is that of taking a leap, so I love planning new things. Community is a crucial dimension of my life; I aim to spend most of my time in various group settings (family, friends and colleagues). This enables me to practise my other profession, cultural studies, even in my free time, through a stance of continuous observation. I am particularly interested in the patterns of power relations—I am an idealist and would like to live in a world that is more humane and democratic.

In my twenties, I worked with young people in foster homes, after which I studied the Internal Theatre method of the Grotowski school, as well as butoh dancing and physical theatre. I went on to have a child and left the theatre. My son was born in Pécs, and from there, we moved to a tiny village called Besence, the home of families and children living in deep poverty. As my son grew older, I began to assemble children from the village and offered them various activities. We supported ourselves through organic farming, but after running out of money, my son and I moved back to Budapest. Since then, I have been making a living for my family as a masseuse. Drawing in particular on my experience in theatre, I would like to give and contribute to people who start out in life with difficulties, who find that there are few doors open to them and who miss out on much that life has to offer. Theatre is not only about what you see on the stage—it is an attitude and a method that helps people marvel at the world and gain a deeper understanding of life.

In secondary school, I was preparing for a career as a director and cameraman. After graduation, I enrolled in Hungarian Television’s two-year course for assistant cinematographers and focus pullers and worked alongside professional TV crews, as well as with film cameras. With the appearance in Hungary on commercial television channels in 1997, I started Eötvös Loránd University’s philosophy programme, and after completing it, went on to earn a diploma as a teacher of cinematic art and media, also from ELTE. I began to teach at a secondary school in 2004. As part of my pedagogy studies, I learned alternative educational methods with the individual and knowledge in their focus rather than curricula, grades or the teachers’ will and expectations. Drawing on the methods of democratic education, I also took part in founding a primary school. Along with cinematography and film criticism, I have also taught philosophy and ethics.