The Korean Cultural Centre in Budapest presents about two hundred archival images, contemporary newspaper articles, blueprints and other documents in a local history exhibition about Frankel Leó Road and its surroundings in the 2nd District, MTI reports.

The Korean Cultural Centre moved to Frankel Leó Road in November 2019, on the 30th anniversary of diplomatic contact between Hungary and South Korea. The building, owned by the Republic of Korea, was built as an office building in 1992 and was later taken over by the Central European University and used for many years, MTI reminds, based on the institution's statement.

The Korean Cultural Centre opened in 2019 at 30-34 Frankel Leó Road (Photo: Google Maps)

The exhibition entitled "Our House, Our Street", which can be visited from Monday, presents the history of one of Budapest's defining districts. At the local history exhibition, those interested can visit the strategically important route leading to Óbuda, which has been seen by many people for centuries because of the baths. The route evoking the past touches, among other things, the Bambi Eszpresszó, which is still operating today, the former nursing home of the Mercedarians, the tomb of Gül Baba and the Wagner Villa built around it, the Komjádi swimming pool built from parts of the Császár Bath, as well as the ground-floor apartment buildings that stood around Zsigmond Square a hundred years ago too.

The exhibition dedicates a special chapter to the legendary Kis Buda restaurant that once operated on the site of the Centre building, which was a cultural highlight of the area and where celebrities such as Marcello Mastroianni and George W. Bush visited. In addition to almost 200 archival photos, the history of the area emerges from contemporary press reports. The exhibition examines former articles from crime news to urban development plans. Such is an opinion article from 1982 about the entertaining quarter planned for the area, a newspaper article from 1947 about the revolver battle in Zsigmond Street, or even a "minute-by-minute" report from 1911 about Ferenc Molnár's suicide attempt.

The exhibition "Our House, Our Street" presents the history of one of the capital's defining districts (Photo: Korean Cultural Centre)

In Suk Jin, the director of the centre emphasised: the buildings are always connected with the lives of those who live and work in them, and they wanted to pay tribute to their memory by creating the exhibition. By introducing the local history of the host country, they want to build bridges between the two nationalities, and hope that the visitors will get closer to Korean culture, he said.

At the exhibition, visitors can see about two hundred archival images, contemporary newspaper articles, blueprints and other documents (Photo: Korean Cultural Centre)

The organisers do not consider the collection of the exhibition material finished, they want to continue reconstructing the history of the neighbourhood together with the visitors, so they are looking for old photographs taken in and around Frankel Leó Road by the people who live here. If they find any, they can send them to the e-mail address koreaikultura@koreaikultura.hu or the postal address of the institute.

A special moving image installation can be seen in the exhibition space until the end of January, which shows the inhabitants and typical characters of Frankel Leó Road from Turkish times to the present day. The "Our House, Our Street" permanent exhibition can be visited free of charge every weekday between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm in the Korean Cultural Centre at 30-34 Frankel Leó Road.

Source: MTI

Cover photo: Exhibition opened at the Korean Cultural Centre (Photo: Korean Cultural Centre)