Alternative Education in the Kádár Era – the Research Project

Between 2011 and 2013, the AnBlokk Society for the Cultural and Social Sciences conducted a research and education project entitled Alternative Education in the Kádár Era, with the aim of exploring campers’ memories of their summers in Bánk. The project was undertaken by researchers and university students, who conducted biographical interviews with former camp attendees. Research and collection for the project centred not only on campers’ immediate memories, but also on the educational practices and general methods of the era’s “soft dictatorship,” the types of experiences that were peculiar to the post-war generation, the nature of the post-war childhood, and the types of strategies that were typically used in constructing identity. Interviewees were selected so as to represent all four decades of camp operation. In addition to biographical information, the project also explored the camp’s material legacy. The researchers who took part in the programme have appeared in a number of domestic and international scientific forums, while their findings were presented at a mini-exhibition at the Bánk Lake Festival in 2012, and have also featured in a documentary exhibition entitled The Art of Communication, organised by tranzit.hu.

Head researchers: Melinda Kovai, Eszter Neumann, Márton Oblath
External expert: Éva Kovács
Interviewers: László Balla, Margit Barna, Flóra Bernáth, Eszter Csillag, Kinga Csizmás, Sára Gábor, Zsuzsa Gyarmati, Anna Kádár, Melinda Kovai, Eszter Neumann, Adrienn Németh, Annamária Németh, Anna Szabó, Judit Szollár, András Vigvári

The assistance of the following individuals was indispensable toward an accurate understanding of the objects studied for this exhibition, and in conducting the required preparatory work: Ferenc Bid Fábri és Ferenc Hábi Háber. Their selfless cooperation is greatly appreciated!

We would also like to offer our special thanks to all interviewees and collaborators for their confidence and honesty, which greatly aided in bringing this project and accompanying exhibition to fruition.