Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center

A grand art nouveau building formerly belonging to Lajos Ernst, collector and patron of the Hungarian art scene, now houses the Robert Capa Centre – Contemporary Photography Centre. The house, located in central Budapest, was mostly intended for Lajos Ernst’s extensive collection, but it also houses a large cinema. The space continues fulfilling its cultural mission, providing a home, since 2013, to the aforementioned organization, an institute for visual art and photography. 

Its principal aim is to maintain the collection and promote the work of Robert Capa, a legend of documentary photography. Also dedicated to his work is a large retrospective exhibition summarizing the crucial moments in his personal and professional life. The show is a fascinating tangle of crucial historical moments, mostly from the first half of the 20th century and mostly involving the armed conflicts that Robert Capa documented, along with informal photographs of figures including John Steinbeck, Pablo Picasso, and Leon Trotsky. In addition to this unique permanent exhibition, there is also a unique presentation of Hungarian photographer André Kertész, who spent most of his life in exile in New York. Kertész was a master of capturing ordinary moments in everyday life, but he was also a war photographer and a pioneer of photojournalism. 

The remaining two exhibition spaces are dedicated to exhibitions of photography or contemporary art. Currently showing is Energy, a group exhibition by the Futures international platform, of which the Robert Capa Centre also forms part. There is a rich accompanying and educational program mostly consisting of workshops, lectures, discussions, and performances, but there are also important international connections. Last but not least, the center organizes the Capa Grand Prize, a yearly award for all artists working with the medium of photography on the Hungarian art scene. The Robert Capa Centre is an institution that not only maintains a rich history but also provides space for contemporary tendencies in photography and contemporary art.