National Museum director sacked
November 7th, 2023The Hungarian organizer of the World Press Photo exhibition says he doesn’t understand why the director of the National Museum had to be dismissed in connection with WPP.
In October, Dóra Dúró, MP of the Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party requested the World Press Photo 2023 exhibition hosted by the National Museum to restrict access for those under 18 because certain images depict an LGBT old age home in the Philippines. The 2021 law on the protection of children bans LGBT propaganda among children (see BudaPost July 12, 2021). János Csák, the cabinet minister for Culture and Innovation agreed with her and told the Museum not to let minors in. László L. Simon, the director of the National Museum had the ‘only over 18’ sign printed on tickets but said the museum was not entitled to require visitors to produce their IDs. On Monday, the Minister of Culture dismissed the director from his job.
Photographer Tamás Révész, who has served as Hungarian organizer of the exhibition for several years, told Klub Radio that Hungary was the first country in the Soviet bloc to be allowed to host the World Press Photo exhibition in 1970. He said the pictures exhibited were factual and carried no propaganda messages. The pictures that were judged to be harmful to children, he added, show a small (LGBT) community finding a way to live their lives in an otherwise extremely hostile environment and are not a propaganda statement for the LGBT lifestyle. Révész does not think Hungary could be deprived of its right to host WPP next year or thereafter because of what has happened.