About the Artist Exchange Program of Budapest Gallery

The Artist Exchange Program, founded in 1989 and overseen by Budapest Gallery, is one of the oldest running residency programs in Budapest. The program’s main goals are to offer opportunities for Hungarian artists to familiarize themselves with foreign cultures and to introduce artists from abroad to the Budapest art scene.

Budapest Gallery organises exhibitions which present works by contemporary European and Hungarian artists, and it strives in various ways and at various levels to include artists who participate in its Artist Exchange Program. In addition, the artists arriving from abroad also have an opportunity to put on a small solo exhibition in a show space of Massolit Books & Café, found in close proximity to the studio apartments, or to introduce themselves in an open studio or within the context of an artist talk event.

The Exchange Program offers the artists a fully equipped studio apartment in the very centre of Budapest and a monthly stipend and grant to help cover or defray the costs of materials. The approximately 60-square-meter studio apartments give the artists a quiet place to work, while at the same time, the artists find themselves in the very middle of the city’s cultural hub. The Exchange Program coordinator and the entire staff of Budapest Gallery help the artists explore and discover the Budapest contemporary art scene.

During the past three decades, the Budapest Gallery has managed partnerships with more than ten institutes across Europe. Each year, the independent jury, which is invited to participate by the gallery, consists of five members (artists, art historians and curators) who decide on the Hungarian applications. To apply for the one-month or two-month residency offered by the Budapest Gallery, artists should contact the nearest partner institute and apply through it.