Hungary’s ombudsman for fundamental rights on Sunday said he had asked the Constitutional Court to annul certain provisions of the act on the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA).
Mate Szabo noted the academy’s founding members may come from only one civil organisation, which goes against artistic freedom. The law on the academy also allows the academy to establish its own conditions for membership, which is against the Constitution, he added.
Szabo noted that that the MMA had been operating for almost 20 years before Hungary’s new Constitution mandated that it be wound up as an association but reformed as a public body, that is, one established by law. The law stipulates that only members of the former association may participate in the transformation of the academy, he said.
The MMA was awarded ownership rights over the Mucsarnok, a popular exhibition space for contemporary art in the capital, and the Pesti Vigado, a performance venue, through which it can exercise influence over public cultural life, he added.
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