The city is about to celebrate Europe Day with a large-scale event. May 9th will be distinguished by the fact that Eger is running for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023. As mentioned at the press conference, this event is yet another opportunity to spread the word about Eger’s assets in Europe.
What is the tender of European Capital of Culture about?
A video from 2016: The 30-year history of ECoC in 3 minutes…
Our city is running for the title of “European Capital of Culture” again
We have dispatched the necessary official announcement of intent to the State Secretariat for Culture at the Ministry of Human Resources and established Eger’s “ECoC2023 governance model”. A Cultural Strategy is in place, with long-term goals and we are delighted to announce the appointment of Lajos Koltai, the world-famous, Kossuth-prize-winning cinematographer, Artist of the Nation, as our artistic director.
The artistic director of the Eger tender project to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2023 is Lajos Koltai, Kossuth- and Béla Balázs prize-holding cinematographer. As a first step, Mr. Koltai is looking to immerse himself in the cultural assets and historic qualities of the city, as these are worthy of introduction to Europe.
Eger performed well in the race for the title of European Capital of Culture 2010, so the Local Government decided that the city is to run again for the 2023 holding of the title. A professional conference was held on Thursday at the Assembly Hall of the City Hall regarding the tender application. Eger’s application will highlight the elaborate connections between light, film, science, the arts, as well as between science and the church. We are delighted to have world-famous, Kossuth prize-winning cinematographer, Lajos Koltai as artistic director.
Deputy Mayor Ildikó Adler Martonné met the heads of settlements around Eger at the City Hall, so that they may liaise on how best to cooperate regarding the “European Capital of Culture 2023” tender application. Each town is to contribute local assets to the body of the tender application.
The Local Government and Eszterházy Károly University have signed a strategic agreement at the public city celebrations commemorating Hungarian Culture Day and the successful preparation of the tender application for “European Capital of Culture 2023”. Those who have excelled at cultural or artistic endeavours received public recognition at the celebrations, and the finalists of the literature competition, organised by the Local Government, were also announced. The finalists included students from Eventus, Tinódi, Dobó, Mária Ward and the Eszterházy Károly University Practise school.
A city-wide and regional pulling together is called for if we are to secure the title of European Capital of Culture 2023, stressed Mayor László Habis at the first forum dedicated to the subject. Besides discussing the running order of the tender, the first ideas were voiced too; one of these was the establishment of a contemporary gallery, the involvement of the young in the project, and making smaller communal areas look more pleasant.
The General Assembly of Eger gave its unanimous support to the decision to run for the title of European Capital of Culture. A decision was made on the allocation of sports funding for the year ahead. Also, a coordinating body, a division of EVAT, responsible for cultural, touristic, and marketing activities is to be founded; its proposed name is KULTURMA.
Eger may also run for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023. Mayor László Habis and Zsolt Nyitrai, MP for the city and the region, proposed that Eger run for the title in their joint open letter published on social media platforms.
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