HALTalk & Exhibition Opening

Please note that this is a hybrid event. Guests can either join in person at the Library for the full event or join us online on Zoom for the HALTalk. The number of guests who join the event at the Library is limited to 25 people, so make sure to register. In case you cannot come, please be kind to cancel your registration, so others can join! Read the details of our COVID-19 policy at bottom of this page. 

To register for the HALTalk at 3 PM, please RSVP on this page below.

To attend the event in the Library, please register: HERE 

Program schedule:

2:45-3:00 PM EST Welcoming guests in the Library

Those who join us online should join around 2:55 PM EST.

3:00 PM EST Introduction 

3:05 PM EST HALTalk: What does 1956 mean to the younger generation? (Andrea Lauer Rice and Réka Pigniczky will join us via Zoom)

4:00 PM EST Mari Gyorgyey's will give a short tour of and talk about her work (Heritage Excavation: Visual Excerpts from my Parents Lives)

4:15 PM EST Reception for guests who join for the event in the Library

5:00 PM EST End of event

About Mari Gyorgyei:

Mari Gyorgyey is best known for her nonlinear narrative art which flows into book arts, pen and ink drawings, paintings, computer imagery, and fine art etchings. She is not afraid to mix any of the techniques to communicate her theme. Mari’s approach can be described as figurative and expressionistic. Her quirky and satirical drawings has been compared to Philip Evergood, and William Kentridge and the pre-war drawings of George Grosz. Since earning her BFA from RISD, and MFA from UPENN, Gyorgyey has shown her work domestically and internationally with solo shows in Tapio Gyorgy, Hungary, Budapest, Hungary as well as Stamford, CT., U.S.A. She has won printmaking awards from UPENN, Dharma Silk Company, and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, where she is a longtime member. Some of Gyorgyey’s unorthodox themes are Dogs in Dresses, Tweens in Weight Loss Camp, and uneventful but creepy moments in The Lives of the Romanovs but her new project is the largest and personally most important yet. This current artwork is a multifaceted investigation of her parent’s history, and her Hungarian upbringing in America. It is called Heritage Excavation. Mari investigates the conflicts and harmonies from Hungárián communities in both countries. She explores what it’s like to have two identities vying for dominance. Mari’s work integrates her fine art and textile design background. Her content is strongly influenced by living in communist Hungary, and suburban America. Her portraits have the passion of European Expressionism with the visual superficiality of Technicolor films. Her work seems offbeat...but at closer glance is strangely approachable and empathetic to our human condition.

Her website is available HERE.

About Andrea Lauer Rice and Réka Pigniczky:

Andrea Lauer Rice and Réka Pigniczky co-founded Memory Project, a community-wide initiative, in 2015. Both daughters of 1956-ers, Andrea and Réka have known each other for the past 25 years. Memory Project is their joint project to help document and record the personal stories of Hungarians who emigrated to the United States after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and as displaced persons after World War II. Within the past two years, they expanded their outreach to include Hungarian Americans with fascinating stories about their upbringing and other inspirational and unique interviews with Hungarians across the world.

Réka Pigniczky is a television journalist, producer and independent documentary filmmaker. To date she has created 3 films dealing with 1956, immigration, and dual-identity. ‘Journey Home’ won awards in Hungary and was invited to screen at a number of international film festivals. ‘Inkubátor’ was voted one of the 25 best films released in Hungary in 2010. ‘Heritage’ is the prequel to the Memory Project.

While the movie “Journey Home” tells the moving story of her Father’s role in the ’56 Revolution, Réka never interviewed him herself. And now that he has passed away, that opportunity is lost. Through this project, she hopes to record other people’s stories so that no one else will miss the opportunity to hear these stories in the words of the people who lived them.

Réka has an MA in international affairs and journalism from Columbia University in New York. Her film website is www.rekapigniczky.com.

Andrea Lauer Rice is a multimedia producer, author and speaker, who focuses on teaching the next generation through new and innovative ways. On the topic of 1956, her multimedia credits include:

• FF56! – an educational computer game;
• “Freedom Fighters of ’56!” – a historically accurate graphic novel;
• www.FreedomFighter56.com – oral history site;
• and  “56 Stories – Personal Recollections of the Revolution” – a coffee table book in both Hungarian and English.

Andrea grew up hearing stories about 1956 from her mother, aunt, grandparents and other family members who participated. Her challenge is finding ways to bridge the gap – building a bridge between Hungarians and Americans, between spouses and parents and children. She tries to answer the question, how does one generation effectively pass on heritage and traditions to the next.

Andrea has an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University and a BA in Journalism from Lehigh University. Her website is www.lauerlearning.com.

COVID-19 restrictions

All audience members must provide in-person verification of vaccination. Prior to entering, you will be asked to provide proof of vaccination through the CLEAR app (if available to you), the Excelsior Pass (for New York State residents), the NYC COVID Safe app (for New York City residents), or an original physical vaccination card or photograph of it. If using Excelsior Pass, NYC COVID Safe app, or a vaccination card, you must present photo ID along with your vaccine proof.