Night of Museums 2026
Mapping the Works of Imre Varga

How does an artistic legacy take shape on a map? Where can we encounter Imre Varga’s sculptures around the world, and what kinds of public artworks would we imagine for Budapest today? During Museum Night, the programmes at the Imre Varga Collection explore the relationship between sculpture and urban space. Guided tours, map-based discoveries, and collaborative creative activities invite visitors to engage with Varga’s multifaceted oeuvre from new perspectives, both inside the collection and throughout the sculpture garden. 

As the evening unfolds, the sculpture garden will be transformed by a special light installation. Walking among the sculptures illuminated by colourful lights, visitors will have the opportunity to experience the collection in an entirely new way.

The Renewed Permanent Exhibition of the Imre Varga Collection

Imre Varga (1923–2019), Kossuth Prize-winning sculptor, would have turned one hundred years old in November 2023. On this occasion, his oeuvre has been reinterpreted, with the aim of presenting selected works from his career from a new perspective: how did a commission, an initial idea, become a masterwork cast in bronze? By showcasing previously unknown preliminary studies and visual plans from his estate, well-known works are brought into a new light—such as the furnishings of the Hungarian Chapel in the Vatican, the Martyrs’ Memorial in the courtyard of the Dohány Street Synagogue, the Waiting Figures (“Umbrella Bearers”) sculpture group in Óbuda, and the Mihály Károlyi Memorial.

Varga’s oeuvre is exceptionally diverse, encompassing not only sculptural works but also drawings and photographs alongside his models. These latter materials offer insight into his creative process, as well as into how his works were installed in public spaces. How did Imre Varga relate to the historical figures or events for which he was commissioned to create sculptures? And to what extent did his personal, subjective perspective manifest in each piece?

Imagined Public Space

Sculpture Design Workshop for all ages

What new works of art would you imagine for the banks of the Danube? Design your own sculptures and exhibit them at the Varga Imre Collection! Let your imagination run free! Each of you can model your own little sculpture out of air-dry clay and exhibit it afterwards at the Imre Varga Collection. The exhibition will be open until the end of the year 2026.

Mapping the Works of Imre Varga

English language guided tour

Where can we encounter the artworks of Imre Varga? All over Europe: from London to Warsaw, from Hegyeshalom in northwestern Hungary to Makó in the country’s far southeast, as well as in various districts of Budapest. Varga was one of the most significant public sculptors of Hungary in the second half of the 20th century, who left a lasting mark not only in his native country, but internationally as well: his works abroad almost form a distinct body of work of their own. This program presents the artist’s career from a new perspective. Through maps, visitors can trace the surprisingly extensive presence of his public sculptures across cities, countries and continents.

Light show in the sculpture garden

The Varga Imre Collection welcomes visitors with a special evening program as part of the Night of Museums. During the light show, one of Óbuda’s most beautiful sculpture gardens will be transformed by magical illumination: the evening lighting of the sculptures and the garden creates a unique atmosphere between 8 and 10 pm. The special lighting effects reveal a new side of the sculptures and the garden after dark, allowing visitors to discover the artworks from a fresh perspective.