TAT  Contemporary Art Gallery

As a Contemporary Art Project Gallery, TAT’s mission is to become  an innovative intellectual workshop, where artistic, public and scientific research may take place in a parallel way. The Gallery, which focuses mostly on Middle European art and artists, belongs to the major progressive organizations in the art scene of Budapest. Although its main profile consists of launching  programmes in connection with contemporary art, we organize exhibitions, lectures and other artistic events – such as concerts and poetry readings – as well.

TAT is the Hungarian equivalent for the “stern of a ship”. Nomen est omen. The saying should be taken seriously. TAT is a symbolic ship, which—like a modern Noah’s Arc itself—attempts to save intellectual values by receiving them into its deck, with special attention to values that are ignored by the decadent civilisations of the present day. Consumer societies are controlled by various media forms that represent a unified culture attributed to globalism. TAT, however, intends to be an atypical gallery in the sense that it is open to a wide public, while  it also attempts to remain an open-minded and experimenting artistic space; a field open for daring and creative artists. Consequently, TAT Gallery has established a close and fruitful relationship with some less known and not yet canonized contemporary artists whose works are nevertheless characterized by remarkable qualities.

Those artists and gallery owners who have dedicated their lives to the advancement of contemporary art and are sensitive to ideas transmitted by intellectually engaging contemporary products are exposed to the often thunderous and ever-changing atmosphere of the art world of today. Consequently, the symbol of the ship may provide a reference to this situation as well. The wheel of the ship is on the stern (that is, tat). This is the place where the captain stands, who steers the ship through troubled waters with steady hands towards sunny coasts. The power of the ship lies in the force of co-operation, in working together and in the will to act. Thus, people working at TAT Gallery are constantly seeking ways to interpret the present, are searching new concordances and untrodden paths. It goes without saying that it is easier and safer to sail with a well-chosen crew. Those working at TAT have no boundaries in the sense that colleagues are often allowed a free hand in various questions. The artists the Gallery represents are constantly testing unknown paths, which often proves to be troublesome for some leaders of the current public opinion, who are mostly taken aback by these works. TAT has already achieved remarkable local reputation and has established unique international connections as well. Consequently, drawing parallels between international and Hungarian artistic scenes are of a crucial importance for TAT.

 

We are proud to invite everyone interested in contemporary thoughts and art to visit our Gallery. We like to think about our influence as waves generated by a pebble that has been dropped into a pond. The resonance of thoughts created in the otherwise still water is what makes artists share our sentiments and be daring enough to join us. All the more so, since a more and more innovative and progressive audience calls out for the representation of such artists.

We have organized thirty exhibitions and almost as many artistic and scientific events during the last three years that have passed since the opening of TAT Gallery in 2009, most of which were full house. Approximately forty-five thousand people have visited our homepage, what is more, every fourth visitor who follows our events and exhibitions is from abroad. Our manifesto is to call the attention of the larger public to the importance of individuality and to those intellectual values that seem to have been out of trend for a while.