On April 21 the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye and the Yunus Emre Institute in Budapest Turkish Cultural Centre organized a charity auction to support the victims of the earthquake in Türkiye. The event – in which Ambassador János Hóvári, the Executive Head of the Representation Office of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Budapest also participated – was held in the Barcsay Chamber of the University of Fine Arts.
It was for the first time that the Hungarian University of Fine Arts – whose history goes back to 150 years – asked its teachers, as well as its students and alumni to support charity purposes by offering their works. During the auction on April 21, there were 78 works by students and 50 by teachers and alumni that came under the hammer. The bidders were able to see a wide variety of contemporary works – several recognized artists teaching at the University – among them Frigyes Kőnig, Géza Sallai, József Szurcsik, Zoltán Ötvös, János Kósa, Tamás Felsmann and István Erős – offered there works for auction.
The hostess of the charity auction was Antónia Bálint, and the concert before the event was performed by the musicians of the Ferenc Liszt University of Music. Besides the charity auction, there had been an online donation going on for weeks. During the auction the participants were able to bid for 128 works of art that had been offered by the teachers and students of the University of Fine Arts.
