Education and Outreach
Anna Kövecsi
Education and Outreach

Education Outreach Programs

Education outreach programs were conceived to connect with and involve K-12 level teacher and student communities in Hungary.  In 2017  Blinken OSA's education outreach projects involved close to 1000 students, 77 teachers from 68 high schools and universities coming from 23 towns and cities across Hungary.

Symbols of Socialist Art / Creative workshop for high school students

Outreach group: high school students
Participants: 164 students, 8 teachers
Schools: 8 high schools from Budapest

In conjunction with the exhibit Symbols of Socialist Art, Blinken OSA hosted 164 students from 8 high schools across Budapest for a critical workshop addressing the correlation of history, politics, and art.

Somewhere in Europe / Gaudiopolis

Outreach group: high school students
Participants: 771 students, 46 teachers
Schools: 38 high schools and universities from Budapest and around

In October 2017, a series of student outreach programs organized in conjunction with the exhibition Somewhere in Europe/ Gaudiopolis attracted close to 800 students from 38 different schools and institutions across Budapest. The exhibition explored the story of Gaudiopolis (City of Joy), a children’s republic founded in 1945 in Budapest by Lutheran pastor Gábor Sztehlo. Gaudiopolis offered a place to live to hundreds of orphans and children left homeless after WW2, and was not only a shelter but also a self-sufficient democratic community with its own constitution, laws, educational and cultural agenda, and institutional management. 


Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop

On September 24-25 a two-day workshop evoked the spirit of Gaudiopolis with the participation of children from Cseppkő Children’s Home (Budapest) and Fészek Waldorf School (Solymár).  With the professional guidance of the Budapest based architecture team Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop (AUW), the program invited students to experiment with form and matter, working with clay, wood, textile, and plaster using various techniques. The resulting artworks became part of the exhibition installation.

Guided Exhibition Tours

577 students joined the guided exhibition tours in October. Students came from Budapest-based high schools and a few primary schools as well as universities and art colleges. 

Our City – Drama Pedagogy Workshop

The workshops held on October 17-19 attracted 178 students from six high schools, and explored the concept of democracy and dictatorship in a role-playing game which tested the decision-making abilities of students in a community.

Tracing Revolutions / Are Revolutions a Moral Issue?

Outreach group: high school students
Participants: 24 students (participants) and 60 (supporters), 2 teachers
Schools: 2 high schools from Budapest 

This student debate invited two student teams from two Budapest high schools to debate the aims, results and afterlife of revolutions from a moral perspective.

Teacher Training / Accredited Continuing Education Program for Teachers

Scopes and Constraints in 20th Century Hungarian History

Outreach group: high school teachers
Participants: 21 teachers
Schools: 20 high schools from Budapest, Dunaújváros, Eger, Tata, Vác

In 2016 Blinken OSA developed its first Teacher Training Program for Hungarian high school teachers. The program was granted accreditation for 5 years by the Hungarian Ministry of Education.

The program entitled Scopes and Constraints in 20th Century Hungarian History uses the rich collections of the Archives and offers tools for a perspectivist and critical exploration of 20th century socio-political events which generated radically different interpretations in the historical memory of Hungarians and the various ethnic groups in the Carpathian Basin. The first course ran from 11 April-29 April, 2017.