The Hungarian government is planning on spending more than 125 billion HUF on major cultural investments in 2017, it has been revealed.
Zoltán Balog, minister of Human Capacities, confirmed the sum and revealed it was a significant increase on the amount spent on cultural projects last year, which was around 52 billion HUF.
Major construction projects to be carried out this year include the construction of a museum quarter in the City Park, the reconstruction of the garden of the National Museum, the refurbishment of the Eiffel Hall, an old railway building in Budapest’s 10th district to serve as a base and storage facility for the soon-to-be renovated State Opera House, and the refurbishment of Budapest’s Museum of Applied Arts.
Regarding Hungary’s memorial year marking the 500th anniversary of Reformation in Europe, Balog said Hungarians were more keen on preserving the cultural values that “made this continent great” than western European nations. “The cultural axis in Europe has shifted,” he said, adding that the migration crisis had also demonstrated that Hungary was more committed to preserving Europe’s cultural-historical heritage rooted in Christianity than other countries.
According to MTI, Balog noted that last year UNESCO added the Kodály method of music education to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. He said this was a major success for Hungary, adding, at the same time, that while the method is well-known across the world, Hungary has a lot of ground to make up in its music education.
He said the government had supported about one thousand events last year paying tribute to the 1956 Revolution, the anti-Soviet uprising, adding that the commemoration events had never reached as many people as they did during the 60th anniversary of the revolution.