Life Does Not Stop Even in the Heat at the Liszt Institut London

The Liszt Institute London screened the film Heights and Depths on the anniversary of Zsolt Erőss's death, organized the launch of Attila Bartis's book The End on the eve of the 2024 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Literary Award ceremony, and held Hungarian Days in collaboration with the Góbéfest in Manchester and the National Institute of Culture. The programs were a great success in the United Kingdom.

In late May 2013, a country anxiously followed the news when Zsolt Erőss, the first Hungarian conqueror of Mount Everest, went missing in the Himalayas with his partner. Although everyone else still had hope, his wife Hilda Sterczer announced live that further rescue expeditions were futile. Over the following weeks, the media systematically tried to break the woman's resilience. The Liszt Institute London screened the film Heights and Depths in Hungarian with English subtitles on May 31 online. The program was organized as part of the Hungarian Movie Nights series, in collaboration between the Consulates General of Hungary in Manchester and Edinburgh, the Liszt Institute London, and the National Film Institute.

Among the three finalists for the 2024 EBRD Literary Award, two Hungarian writers were represented this year, with the jury selecting Krisztina Tóth's Barcode and Attila Bartis's The End as the finalists. The EBRD Literary Award was first presented in 2018 and surveys the literature of the 36 European, Asian, and African countries in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invests. The prestigious award was given to the best work of fiction translated to English and published in translation for the first time in the European and North American book markets. Attila Bartis presented his novel The End, published in English, at the Liszt Institute London on 12 June, the evening before the award ceremony, together with the literary translator Judit Szöllősy. (Krisztina Tóth's novel was presented by the Institute in April 2023.)

On 23 June 2024, the Liszt Institute London organised a community event for the Hungarian diaspora and families in London. The Hungarian Day showcased the rich Hungarian folk art, with the Góbéfest in Manchester. At the event, with the help of animators from the National Institute of Culture, the audience was introduced to the secrets of macramé making, beading and egg dyeing under the title of "Körmönfonó”. During the event, a folk play house was organised for children entitled "Kismuzsika". A dessert-making workshop was also part of the Hungarian Day programme, with the enthusiastic audience learning the skills of pastry making. At the end of the day, UNESCO Prize-winning singer Márta Sebestyén gave a rousing concert with Liszt Prize-winning singer Judit Andrejszki and Junior Príma Prize-winner Judith Andrejszki Jr. Béla Szerényi. At the sold-out closing event, the audience gave a standing ovation for the extraordinary musical experience.