Contemporary Lynx is a proud media partner of the “OFF-Biennale“, the largest contemporary art event in Hungary. The Biennale took place from May, 8th to June, 15th in a various location in Budapest.
OFF-Biennale Budapest is the largest contemporary art event in Hungary. It started in 2014 as a grassroots initiative, a “garage” biennale set up by a small group of art professionals in order to create a platform for exchange between art practitioners and other members of society. Since 2014, OFF has become an internationally acclaimed event. OFF’s mission is to strengthen the local independent art scene, and initiate public discourse about urgent yet neglected social, political, and environmental issues. OFF is a constant experiment that realizes the vision of a sustainable and democratic institution in the civil sphere.
The 5th anniversary edition will take place across various venues in Budapest from May 8 to June 15, 2025, followed by events in several European cities—Vienna, Amsterdam, Oldenburg and Limerick—through various partnerships.
This year’s theme revolves around the concept of “security”—a term often invoked and distorted in public discourse, largely shaped by populist right-wing rhetoric. The title of the Biennale, Poems of Unrest, references a work by artist and activist Robert Gabris, which introduces new techniques for collective productivity and imagination to help navigate the present. The Biennale comprises numerous projects at different locations, primarily as exhibitions and accompanying events (performances, screenings, walks), but also featuring collective actions in public spaces.
As multiple crises intensify and converge—fueled by far-right political agendas, wars, the cost-of-living and housing crises, and the anthropogenic climate crisis—we find ourselves on shifting ground, grappling with persistent feelings of unrest and anxiety.
However, we must acknowledge that not all of us are equally affected. We each experience different privileges and disadvantages, and our awareness of global systems of imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism varies. These systems shape our lives, positioning us as both beneficiaries and those marginalized by them, often simultaneously and to varying degrees.
Our fate, as social beings, is inextricably linked to the world around us—human and non-human alike. In this context, how can we build and sustain meaningful connections, develop inclusive political and social agendas, amplify often unheard voices, and foster resilience and cooperation in times of insecurity?
Poems of Unrest draws on diverse experiences and offers profound, personal perspectives, capturing emotional complexities where the poetic manifests in many forms. The selected works engage with the theme of security while addressing interconnected issues such as systemic inequality, control, marginalization, the impact of armed conflicts, migration, decoloniality, the climate crisis, queer ecologies, domestic violence, bodily autonomy, and feminist resistance.
The works on display employ a range of strategies, including absurd humor, practices of pleasure, and playfulness, to reflect on our current condition, urgencies, and challenges. At the same time, they look to a wealth of knowledge and civic practices for building alliances, solidarity, and sustainable, meaningful ways of living together.
