Zsuzsa Dárdai's welcome speech,
Don Soker Gallery, B55 Gallery
Dear Mr. Betts, Deputy Chief of Mission, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Hungarian opening exhibition of Haraszthy200 Festival, in the name of myself and the other organizers of the festival, artist János Szász Saxon and Balázs Humayer, president of Tokaj-Sonoma Twin-Town Association.
After San Francisco and Sonoma
we continue our commemoration in Budapest and Tokaj of the father of
viticulture and wine-making in California, the establisher of Buena Vista
Winery, “Count Haraszthy”, the founder of Haraszthyville /Sauk City, the
sheriff of San Diego, the founder of hospitals, the delegate, the writer, the
traveller…
Ágoston Haraszthy, who was the uncle of my great-great-grandfather,
and my family has cherished his memory for generations, left the great heritage
of ingenuity and entrepreneurship for us. His pioneer spirit encouraged us to
start organizing this large-scale festival with “avant-garde determination”,
which includes exhibitions, programmes for children, conferences, wine events,
dance shows and concerts for several months in California and Hungary.
By this civil
initiative we contribute to building Hungary’s image. Ágoston Haraszthy was the
first Hungarian to legally settle in America; he was American at the same time
being a truly Hungarian. Very few people know about it in Hungary, so with this
festival we also wanted to show how one being American, can become a Hungarian
again.
Here and now we remember him with the power and beauty of art: with the
Red and White works of art associating the colours and shades of wine, created
by American and Hungarian artists. I would like to welcome the artists present,
especially István Harasztÿ, who is also a collateral relative of
Ágoston Haraszthy.
I think it is art that does not keep the boundaries; it
connects continents, centuries, nations, countries and cultures. Ladies and
gentlemen, please welcome this initiative!
Zsuzsa Dárdai art critic
Opening remarks at the exhibition, Red & White, organized under the auspices of the Haraszthy200 Festival, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco August 30, 2012, and B55 Contemporary Art Gallery, Budapest, October 4, 2012.
