The Canadian Embassy is pleased to host this web page to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. When Soviet tanks crushed the Hungarian Revolution, Canada was at the forefront in opening its doors and providing a home for nearly 40.000 Hungarian refugees.
In this special year, we wish to share information on how the revolution is commemorated in Canada and Hungary through events, publications and other relevant efforts.
Bridging the Divide is an ontheglobe.com publication for the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian 1956 Revolution. It will be a 144 page bilingual English-Hungarian publication with a print run of 2000 copies, and will be distributed to educational institutions throughout Hungary.
Bridging the Divide was put together based on a series of interviews conducted both in Canada, and Hungary thoughout February of 2006, when Canadian-Hungarian journalist Andrew Princz and Hungarian photographer Katalin Sándor traveled to Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria to interview those who fled Hungary as a result of the October revolution. The team subsequently interviewed family members in Hungary, who remained in Hungary after the revolution.
The Ottawa Hungarian community is holding: Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Place.
Carleton University Alumni Theatre, 1125 Colonel By Drive Time: 16:00
September
Oral History Project and National Exhibit - Rákóczi Foundation Oral History Project in cooperation with the Multicultural History Society of Ontario. The collection of the personal stories of '56 immigrants as well as archival materials will be organised into an exhibition which will travel accross Canada and Hungary. http://www.1956memorial.com
Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria and Budapest
September 23 - end of December
Hungarian Splendour: Masterpieces from the Hungarian National Gallery (in return to the loan of Munkàcsy's Christ in front of Pilate)
Academic conference organized by the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto on 1956, including issues such as the Hungarian Revolution and the Suez Crisis.
Inauguration of George Faludy Place in front of his former flat at 25, St. Mary Street, Toronto, in honour of Hungarian-Canadian poet George Faludy, Nobel nominee for literature
Toronto
October 4-22, 2006
"Vernissage" - Portrait exhibition of prominent Hungarian Canadians
"The 1956 Hungarian Revolution 50 Years Later - Canadian and International Perspectives" International academic conference at the University of Ottawa, in cooperation with the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada and the Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation. Hungarian specialists will also participate in the event having ancillary cultural and academic programmes.
University of Ottawa
October 14-15 and 21-22, 2006
"50 Years after 1956" - Hungarian film festival: screening of four dramatic films dealing with the Revolution (in Hungarian with English subtitles).
A special gala film presentation and reception at the Canadian Museum of Civilization with Robert Lantos, in conjunction with the Film Festival Sunshine
"Hungarian Rhapsody" - Presented as the National Arts Centre's Hungrain 50th Anniversary Celebrations, two chamber music concerts to showcase Hungarian orchestras and musicians with guest artists: - Oct. 16-17: Orion String Quartet playing Bartók's six string quartets (Dominion Chalmers Church) - Oct. 18-19: National Arts Centre Orchestra concert, programme featuring works by Kodály and Bartók, with Hungarian guest artist Barnabás Kelemen, violonist (National Arts Centre)
Ottawa
October 18-21, 2006
Cross Canada Concerts by for Hungarian visiting artists: Gyula Gabora, violin, Pál Farkas, piano, Mónika Fischl, soprano, Dániel Vadász, tenor.
Oct 18 - Edmonton Oct 20 - Calgary Oct 21 - Lethbridge
October 19, 2006
CBC Documentary film on '56, Hungarian refugees and their stories.
broadcast
October 20-23, 2006
Commemorative events in Calgary - Oct 20: Cross Canada Concerts by for Hungarian visiting artists: Gyula Gabora, violin, Pál Farkas, piano, Mónika Fischl, soprano, Dániel Vadász, tenor - Oct 21: The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra playing the music of Hungarian composers. With the participation of Hungarian conductor Zsolt Hamar and Jenõ Jandó, pianist. - Oct 22: Requiem mass in the Hungarian Church and the Hungarian Presbyterian Church - Oct 23: Remembrance at the newly erected kopjafa (special Hungarian wooden headboard on a tomb)
Calgary
October
Vancouver Lectures and Hungarian Artifact Exhibition to mark the anniversary in cooperation between the Public Library of Vancouver and the New Hungarian Voice http://www.newhungarianvoice.com
Vancouver
TBC
Events on Montreal's Main Street, Bld St-Laurent, where many immigrants settled
Montreal
Spring 2007
Memorial conference of the Forestry Faculty of Sopron University (50th Anniversary of the arrival of 199 Hungarian forestry students and teachers to Vancouver/UBC)
As part of the September 28-29 international conference, activities begin on September 12 with a press conference and the opening of the photographs and documents exhibition “1956: A STORY IN IMAGES” by Speaker of Parliament Katalin Szili. The exhibition will feature a series of panels, the Hungarian Exodus, illustrating Canada’s response to the 1956 crisis as well as Canadian-related books and publications. Thereafter, during the two weeks leading up to the Conference, the Italian Cultural Institute will host movies related to 1956 on loan from the sponsors as part of a retrospective called “1956 THROUGH MOVIES AND DOCUMENTARIES.” This will include Freedom’s Fury by Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons,and many other films and documentaries. For more information please visit: www.1956andHungary.hu
Italian Cultural Institute, Budapest
September 28-29, 2007
The international conference entitled 1956 and Hungary: The Memory of Eyewitnesses - In Search of Freedom and Democracy recalls this momentous event through voices, images, and written accounts to commemorate Hungary’s fight for freedom. The Conference will also highlight the contributions of Hungarian émigrés to their adopted nations, and provide an educational opportunity for young Hungarians who did not live through the events of 1956 and now must understand its significance in history. Organizers of the conference are eight embassies, including the Embassy of Canada, and three international non-governmental organizations. The venue of the Conference is the Italian Cultural Institute, the former Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament. The Conference will be opened by President László Sólyom on September 28, and will include eyewitness accounts as well as many distinguished speakers from Hungary and abroad. The Conference is open to the public and the sponsors especially encourage students to take advantage of this unique opportunity to reflect on this heroic moment in Hungarian history.
Italian Cultural Institute, Budapest
October 21
Canada Salutes Hungary Gala, to mark Canada's continuing recognition of the events of 1956.
Palace of Arts, Budapest
September 2007
Memorial conference of the Forestry Faculty of Sopron University (50th anniversary of the arrival of 199 Hungarian forestry students and teachers to Vancouver/UBC)
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