Dum spiro, spero
Sacred Exhibition in Rome
While Rome is burning with the fever of the papal election, the Hungarian Academy in Rome awaited its guests with a sacred exhibition and concert on 5 May 2025 to join the programs of the Eternal City celebrating the jubilee of hope. The event was hosted by the imposing grand staircase of the Falconieri Palace, where Krisztina Lantos, director of the Collegium Hungaricum in Rome greeted the attendees. The opening speech of the exhibition was given by Attila Turi, President of HAA.
While Rome is burning with the fever of the papal election, the Hungarian Academy in Rome awaited its guests with a sacred exhibition and concert on 5 May 2025 to join the programs of the Eternal City celebrating the jubilee of hope. The event was hosted by the imposing grand staircase of the Falconieri Palace, where Krisztina Lantos, director of the Collegium Hungaricum in Rome greeted the attendees. The opening speech of the exhibition was given by Attila Turi, President of HAA.
The topicality of the exhibition title Dum spiro, spero – As long as I live, I hope was emphasized by the Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See, Eduárd Habsburg-Lorraine: "Hope is the fundamental dimension of man, without which there is no real life. This is precisely what the current Roman Holy Year is about and celebrates, since the pilgrims who set out for Rome were animated by the hope of reaching their destination, both in an earthly and heavenly sense."
The opening speech of the exhibition was given by Attila Turi, President of HAA: "In 1925, during the Holy Year a hundred years ago thousands of Hungarians set off for Rome. They came so that God could heal the wounds inflicted by the World War and Trianon. The pilgrim trains rushing to Rome stopped every time at the bridge of the Piave River, and our ancestors threw wreaths with national ribbons into the river. Into the river on the banks of which many thousands of Hungarian and Italian soldiers had previously fought and died senselessly. A few years after the Holy Year Hungarians came to Rome again. Scholarship winning artists, C. Pál Molnár, István Szőnyi and their companions, who, as members of the Roman school, numbered more than a hundred, have shaped the soul, artistic life and taste of the Hungarian nation with a powerful force that still resonates today. I am sure that at that time the power of both faith and art was needed for Hungary to recover. HAA is happy and committed to joining the events of the Holy Year this year and this time, with the power of Hungarian art, trying to lift the souls of the pilgrims of the Holy Year to God. Therefore, we have brought a selection from the fruits of the spiritual pilgrimages of Hungarian artists for the audience of the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Because today, Europe, and Hungary within it, needs faith, hope and love again. I mentioned a spiritual pilgrimage because I believe that the creative artist rightly experiences the creative journey of the soul and spirit in this way."
The walls of the first-floor corridor of the Falconieri Palace display the sacred theme exhibition of HAA, whose artists are: János Aknay, Márton Barabás, József Baksai, Károly Elekes, József Gaál, László Haris, György Jovián, Tamás Kárpáti, Péter Stefanovits, György Somogyi, József Szurcsik and György Verebes.
The Magnificat Girls' Choir led by Valéria Szebellédi also participated in the ceremonial opening.
The opening speech of the exhibition was given by Attila Turi, President of HAA: "In 1925, during the Holy Year a hundred years ago thousands of Hungarians set off for Rome. They came so that God could heal the wounds inflicted by the World War and Trianon. The pilgrim trains rushing to Rome stopped every time at the bridge of the Piave River, and our ancestors threw wreaths with national ribbons into the river. Into the river on the banks of which many thousands of Hungarian and Italian soldiers had previously fought and died senselessly. A few years after the Holy Year Hungarians came to Rome again. Scholarship winning artists, C. Pál Molnár, István Szőnyi and their companions, who, as members of the Roman school, numbered more than a hundred, have shaped the soul, artistic life and taste of the Hungarian nation with a powerful force that still resonates today. I am sure that at that time the power of both faith and art was needed for Hungary to recover. HAA is happy and committed to joining the events of the Holy Year this year and this time, with the power of Hungarian art, trying to lift the souls of the pilgrims of the Holy Year to God. Therefore, we have brought a selection from the fruits of the spiritual pilgrimages of Hungarian artists for the audience of the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Because today, Europe, and Hungary within it, needs faith, hope and love again. I mentioned a spiritual pilgrimage because I believe that the creative artist rightly experiences the creative journey of the soul and spirit in this way."
The walls of the first-floor corridor of the Falconieri Palace display the sacred theme exhibition of HAA, whose artists are: János Aknay, Márton Barabás, József Baksai, Károly Elekes, József Gaál, László Haris, György Jovián, Tamás Kárpáti, Péter Stefanovits, György Somogyi, József Szurcsik and György Verebes.
The Magnificat Girls' Choir led by Valéria Szebellédi also participated in the ceremonial opening.
May 8, 2025
