Márton Szarvas

This historical ethnography of Houses of Culture in two Hungarian towns interrogates the changing relationship between state and culture in contemporary Hungary and Eastern Europe. What actors formed policies and activities in the house of culture? How and who voiced participation and/or resistance to political and social changes? Why did its function change? This project examines the processes through which actors (both professionals of culture and citizens) create and reproduce but also contest the state's symbolic power in and through practices and programs in the house of culture.