The complex project “From Fake Mountains to Faith (Hungarian Trilogy)” examines the relationship between the development of illiberal Hungarian state policy and the political and cultural philosophy that operates as its ideological basis. It demonstrates how the current re-emergence of ‘revisionist nationalism’ holds a sustained place in politics. Through counter-fictionalisation as its methodology, the project presents an analysis of the formation of national mythologies. It consists of two films: “Amorous Geography” (2012) and “The Rise of the Fallen Feather” (2016), as well as an installation “The Chasm Records” (2016) that presents a fictitious museum setting which is not on display in Veletržní palác. The work establishes interconnections between the three major elements of the state philosophy in question: the symbolism of the ‘ethnic landscape’ and political geography; the romantic historiography of national myths of origin; and Turanism, a re-emerging form of political religion.
Szabolcs KissPál’s artistic practice engages with current social and political circumstances, as well as with the role of the artist in the postsocialist world. He works in various media, including photography, video installation, and public interventions.
