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Árpád SCHILLING, director, 1974

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What role did the regime change play in your professional career?

During the regime change, I saw the hope in people. I was fifteen at the time. I made a mental note. These images still come back to me sometimes. If it hadn’t been for the regime change, I probably would have been much more interested in the problematic of freedom. Though I am pretty interested in it as it is, so I don’t know. Since the transition, I have cradled the hope that it is possible to create in Hungary what I loved so much about the West. But it’s not possible. It is not possible to do here, because here is not Western. Here is Central. And that’s different. Since the regime change, I have understood that it is possible to change a political/economic system. And new systems can always be put in place.
I think this concept constitutes the core of my work and professional career.

What cornerstone events or publications in art / politics / public life / the professional sphere do you remember, and which of these influenced you, directly or indirectly? Through what channels and from what sources have you received your knowledge about this period?

Countless events affected me both directly and indirectly. From student theatre camps to the 15 March protest in 2011, almost everything has been a significant experience. But I also know that I had many experiences during this time period that have not left a mark in me, or at least not one deep enough. And that is not good. I have done a lot of reading and been touched by a lot of what I read. I have been keeping abreast of the press on political/public topics only in the past ten years. Péter Nádas and Miklós Tamás Gáspár have been my primary source of information. Unfortunately, I don’t read in English. I very rarely come across relevant information. Although I could really benefit from it.

Has your picture of the regime change and its ideas been altered – if yes, in what way, and as a result of what – in the past 10 / 5 / 1 year(s)?

Yes it has. I have figured out the greatest mistake that has been made: making ourselves believe that what could somehow be spared what is happening to us now. Now we are really on our own. Nobody wants to be where we are now.
We should figure out a way.


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