Hungary\u2019s new government has scrapped plans for a New National Gallery that was to form part of a development in Budapest\u2019s City Park (V\u00e1rosliget) aimed at elevating the capital\u2019s cultural standing.<\/p>\n
The Liget project has been unfolding in and around V\u00e1rosliget for over a decade. Major new buildings, including the House of Hungarian Music and a new building for the Museum of Ethnography have been constructed, while the nearby Museum of Fine Arts (Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum) has undergone a substantial restoration.<\/p>\n
The New National Gallery, designed by Japan\u2019s SANAA architects, was to be the centrepiece of the project. But construction of the 50,000 sq. m museum has effectively been stalled since 2019 due to opposition from Budapest\u2019s mayor and environmental groups. A decree published by Hungary\u2019s new government on 18 June has now officially brought all construction work on the Liget project to an end.<\/p>\n
D\u00e1vid Vit\u00e9zy, the newly appointed minister of rransport and public works, told\u00a0The Art Newspaper\u00a0it was clear that the gallery \u201cwill not be constructed in [the] City Park\u201d, while the project\u2019s remaining building sites are to be reinstated as public parkland. Instead, Vit\u00e9zy said, the government \u201cmust develop a new plan for the future location of the Hungarian National Gallery\u201d, which has been located across the Danube in the castle in Buda since 1975.<\/p>\n
According to Vit\u00e9zy, the castle cannot be \u201cconsidered a viable long-term solution\u201d because its technical infrastructure does not \u201cfully meet the standards required for the long-term operation of a modern national art gallery and the safe preservation of its collection\u201d. The minister added that \u201cno decision has yet been taken\u201d on an alternative location and that \u201ca professional review\u201d will now take place.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the National Gallery declined to comment on current speculation. But in recent remarks to the Hungarian news site HVG, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Ba\u00e1n, who acts as the combined director general of the museum and the Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum, said he remained hopeful that SANAA\u2019s design, which he described as \u201ca world-class contemporary building\u201d, could still be realised in a different location.<\/p>\n
Failing that, Ba\u00e1n argued that a full-scale renovation of the castle building would be the most suitable solution. Such a reconstruction, however, would be expected to take eight to ten years and would require significant funding.<\/p>\n
The creation of a New National Gallery was spearheaded by Ba\u00e1n, who hoped to bring together a combined display of Hungarian and international art made after 1800 in the new building, while the Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum would show a combined display of older work. At present, Hungary\u2019s two most prestigious fine art collections are largely divided into separate Hungarian and international displays, with the former shown in the National Gallery, while the Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum is home to a highly-regarded Old Master collection.<\/p>\n
The cost of constructing SANAA\u2019s design has been estimated at around 100 billion forints (around \u20ac300 million). The former government, under Viktor Orb\u00e1n, had planned to fund it from state sources.<\/p>\n