10 January 2025 is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The Imre Égerházi Memorial Evening was the closing event of the Imre Égerházi centenary memorial exhibition in the Debrecen Modem. The programme consisted of 3 parts. First, curator Balázs Feledy paid tribute to my late father with a guided tour of the exhibition. Next, we spoke to fellow artists Rudolf Velényi and Marcel Kelemen, and finally, we played for an hour with the band Djabe from our albums inspired by Imre Égerházi’s paintings entitled ‘Sheafs are Dancing’ and ‘The Magic Stag.’
After arriving, while the technicians were getting ready for the concert, I took the band on a guided tour of the exhibition. That night, we had Peti Kaszás, not Gabi Oláh on drums. The sound check passed in excellent spirits.
Balázs Feledy can evoke such depths and contexts in connection with the Égerházi works that always have something new to offer – even to me, even after twenty years. I believe that the guided tour of the Égerházi 100 exhibition was the professional peak of that career.
I very much looked forward to the stage discussion with Rudolf Velényi and Marcel Kelemen. Balázs, too, helped with moderating the conversation. Despite the fact that Rudolf Velényi is 15 years his junior, he can nonetheless be regarded as my father’s peer as they held their first independent show together. What made the situation even more piquant was that Rudi was my drawing and art teacher in secondary school. We learnt a great many interesting things about my father’s attitude as an artist and his credo. At the same time, the discussion was not short of exciting common stories either. Painter Marcel Kelemen is, however, more my generation; he’s only two years older than me. In the eighties, he first started taking part in the work of the Hortobágy Creative Camp together with the son of István D. Kurucz as art college students. As a full member of the art colony led by my father, there was a relationship of more than ten years between them, my father also recommended him to the Thiérache art colony. Marcel Kelemen, too, proved to be excellent conversation partner. Regrettably, former Hajdúhadház Mayor László Béres fell ill. However, in the part of the discussion about Hajdúhadház, Balázs lauded the panel painting Hajdúk I. We also managed to pay an old Super-8 film about my father. I think everyone loved it as well as the old photos.
Next came Djabe’s show where we continued showing old films and paintings, but naturally, this time music took centre stage. Iceworld is always a catharsis for me. It was no different this time… We hadn’t played quite a few song for years now, and so the concert was an exciting experience for the whole band.
And finally, a very personal remark. My father was always concerned lest he should follow the same fate as his master, the painter József Menyhárt for whom a memorial exhibition could not be organised due to the fact that his heirs “squandered” the pictures, rather than fostering his artistic legacy. Dad, I hope you’re satisfied with your centenary exhibition and the accompanying events. But it doesn’t finish here. We’re continuing, the next station is 12 March, Bucharest. From the Great Plain to Hargita – Égerházi 100 Memorial Exhibition.
I’d like to say thank you to Modem’s wonderful team, my fellow curator Balázs Feledy, my brother Péter, all the painter friends, my colleagues, and all institutions and private individuals who lent paintings, my musician friends, and everyone who helped, but above all to the many visitors who made this possible.
The photos were taken by László Bese, Gábor Kisfaludy, András Máthé, Péter Égerházi and Levente Vigh.
