Renowned Art Center Opens for Autistic Children

The cooperation between the Modem Modern and Contemporary Art Center in Debrecen and the local autistic member institution of the Saint Ephrem Greek Catholic Kindergarten and Primary School is a milestone, said the Deputy State Secretary for Public Collections and Cultural Development of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.

At a press conference on Thursday, Máté Vincze said that Modem is opening up to a target group whose members have had less access to cultural values so far. From now on, things will be different: young people and children with special and atypical educational needs are entitled to learn about, love, and enjoy culture just like anyone else.

Vincze highlighted that the cooperation between Modem in Debrecen and the Saint Ephrem educational institution is “a pilot project, a test, a game” for professionals – teachers, museologists, art connoisseurs – to join forces to bring the values of art to social groups with little access to art.

Máté Vincze. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt

He added that the task of government representatives is to support this work and to encourage other museums and cultural event spaces to “open up to people with autism, to other disadvantaged target groups, and to bring culture there, to pass it on, to help understand it, to make it an experiential experience.”

Vincze called the Debrecen initiative the birth of a new era, a new step in museum pedagogy, which has made Modem a more interactive, “more inclusive space.”

Kata Vizi, director of Modem, recalled that last year, during the “Yours is the space!” program, a dialogue began on the relationship between autism and contemporary art, and this year they prepared their exhibition entitled Botany in this spirit. They will welcome autistic students from the St. Ephrem Kindergarten and School to the exhibition twice at the end of January, but they would also like to make all of Modem’s exhibitions this year available to them – the director added.

Szabolcs Süli-Zakar, Art Director of Modem, Péter Vas, the St. Ephrem educational institution’s Principal, State Secretary Máté Vincze, and Director of Modem Kata Vizi, (L-R). Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt

Péter Vas, Principal of the St. Ephrem Greek Catholic Kindergarten, Primary School and Primary Art Education Institute, called it a special opportunity for children with autism spectrum disorder to be able to visit an internationally renowned museum where they can encounter contemporary, modern art.

These children are an integral part of society, and it is important that their environment gets to know them, and that they do not feel alienated from each other,”

the director said.

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