A diverse bouquet of programmes organised by the Liszt Institute Helsinki

The Liszt Institute Helsinki put together a various range of programmes for March. They organised a highly successful exhibition of works from the 20th Kecskemét Steel Sculpture and Fine Arts Symposium and presented Francophone Hungarian literature as part of the Francophone Month. On the Day of Finnish Equality and Minna Canth Day, viewers could also watch Judit Goda's lecture in finnish about Julia Szendrey on the institute’s Youtube channel, then Noémi Veronika Szakonyi's film Six Weeks was screened in the framework of their online film club.

1 February 2024 marked the opening of the exhibition entitled „KASZ+ 2023” showcasing the works of the XX Kecskemét Steel Sculpture and Fine Arts Symposium in the U Gallery of the Liszt Institute Helsinki. The exhibition featured renowned artists such as Ars Fennica prize winner Markus Kåhre, Hilda Kozári, Gábor Király, Gyula Majoros, Lilla von Puttkamer, Ottó Szabó "Robotto", Kalle Eriksson and Anne-Karin Furunes, as well as Yusuke Fukui. The Kecskemét Steel Sculpture and Fine Arts Symposium (KASZ+) is one of Hungary's most important international art camps, organised by the K-ARTS Art Foundation in the KÉSZ Industrial and Innovation Park in Kecskemét since 2004. The KASZ's workshop is a bridge between metal sculpture and the rest of visual arts. The workshop is also exemplary in terms of environmental awareness and sustainability, as many of the artworks are made in the spirit of recycling, in many cases by reusing and reprocessing scrap steel and metal elements. The exhibition was open to the public until 28 March 2024 and attracted nearly a thousand visitors to the Liszt Institute Helsinki.

From 1 to 31 March, the Month of La Francophonie - the festival of French language and culture - was held around the world. Within the framework of the event coordinated by the Institut Français in Helsinki, the Liszt Institute Helsinki lent three works by Hungarian writers and poets in French closely linked to French culture from its own library to the Francophone literature collection of the French Institute's library, including Attila József's collected volume, János Pilinszky's The Three Altars, and the Fémina Prize winner Magda Szabó's novel Fresco. The French-language volumes were available for loan to anyone during the month of March, bringing Hungarian literature - this time in french – closer to new readers in Finland. The Francophone Short Film Festival was also held during the month including the screening of Eszter Molnár's animated short film Beyond the Washing Machine (2023) with French subtitles, in collaboration with the Liszt Institute Helsinki.

19 March is Minna Canth's Memorial Day, who was a writer of the 19th century and Equality Day in Finland. On this occasion, literary critic Judit Goda held a presentation entitled End of September: The story of the charismatic Juliet Szendrey on the institute's YouTube channel in Finnish in the framework of the Petőfi Memorial Year in September 2023 in the Liszt Institute. During the lecture, visitors can learn how the national poet's spouse went from being a popular guest in the salons to a scandalous female figure of the time. Through her writings and translations, readers are confronted with the choices of a woman in Hungary in the 19th century.

On 22-23 March 2024, Veronika Noémi Szakonyi's debut feature film Six Weeks was screened at the Liszt Institute Helsinki's online film club. The film drama, which presents adoption from a lesser-known perspective, has won numerous awards at both national and international festivals. The film was screened in the original language with English subtitles.