Hints

Museum of Applied Arts

A combination of Rebecca's internal compass (wherever she is, she points north) and the wonder that is Google maps successfully directed us from the Studio of Young Artists Association to the Museum of Applied Arts, for a meeting with Eszter Agnes Szabo, a founder member of the artist group, Hints.

Hints, who describe themselves as an institute, were set up in 2001 as an attempt to "speak a language outside of the artworld".  Through this, they have developed a social art practice, in which art and creativity are not separated from the everyday, but are directed by an ethos of social and environmental responsibility.

Whilst this type of social art practice is not uncommon within the UK (although largely ignored by mainstream art criticism),  it appears to be completely unaccepted within the Hungarian art world. Szabo,who now works at the Museum of Applied Arts, but began work as a dressmaker and leather designer before becoming a teacher in visual culture, described the frustrations of attempting to promote such a marginalised, multidisciplinary art practice within a distinctly object-based culture.  

Yet, Hints, whose first projects worked with "art waste" from the city's museums, appear resolute in their quest to drag art out of the gallery and into the streets.  Whilst many of their projects, such as a free haute-couture shop in which people could have their clothes altered and part of a practice which they refer to as "art care", have taken place outside of the country, in places such as Vienna where such social art practices are more established, Hints appear dedicated to changing the culture in their own city.  They are currently working on a calendar  for Budapest, which will include information from their projects and ideas for improving the social life of the city, and they will no doubt will continue to push the cultural boundaries in which they are working.