Secretary Gutierrez Opens Photo Exhibition on 1956 Hungarian Revolution

September 5, 2006

U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, and Ambassador András Simonyi opened the "1956 Hungarian Revolution" photo exhibition at American University's Katzen Arts Center.

 

Ambassador András Simonyi, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, and Museum Founder Cyrus Katzen

The exhibition was co-organized by the Embassy of Hungary, Association of Hungarian Photographers and the Hungarian Museum of Photography to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution.

 

President Emeritus of the Hungarian Association of Photographers, Péter Fáth, General Peter Pace, and Ambassador András Simonyi

At the reception, opening remarks were given by the President of American University, Cornelius Kerwin; Museum Founder Cyrus Katzen; Secretary Gutierrez and Ambassador Simonyi.

 

Cornelius Kerwin	Cyrus Katzen

 

Secretary Carlos Gutierrez  and Ambassador András Simonyi	Ambassador András Simonyi

Secretary Gutierrez praised the Hungarian people for their unwavering spirit of freedom and their willingness to risk their lives for achieving it. He pointed out that there are still many nations living under oppression,
including the Cuban people who have suffered under a dictatorship for 47 years.

Ambassador Simonyi said he was proud to represent a free and democratic Hungary today in the United States. Without the sacrifices of the 1956 revolutionaries, Hungary's democratization in 1989/1990 would have been impossible. He underlined the responsibility of free countries for those people in the world who still lack freedom. The Ambassador awarded Secretary Gutierrez the "Remember 1956 Hungary" silver medal on the occasion.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Ambassador András Simonyi

The opening reception was attended by General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Senator George V. Voinovich; the State Department's Chief of Protocol, Donald B. Ensenat; President Clinton's National Security Advisor Anthony Lake; Ambassadors of numerous countries, the Counselor of the Russian Embassy; Hungarian Americans, including 1956 revolutionaries and former dissidents; the representatives of the American and Hungarian media.

General Peter Pace, Mrs. Pace, and Ambassador András Simonyi	Ambassador András Simonyi and Senator George V. Voinovich

 

Ambassador András Simonyi and Former President of the Washington National Opera House, Michael R. Sonnenreich

The exhibition pulls from an extremely wide selection of photographs of the
events. Foreign new media rushed their correspondents to Budapest and to the border with Austria where 200,000 refugees left the country for the West. The show reveals many dramatic, hitherto unpublished work and enlists photographers like Ferenc Berendi, Mario de Biasi, Tamás Féner, László Haris, Ata Kando, Erich Lessing, László Rózsa, Ede Tomori and Géza Varró.

Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Ambassador András Simonyi viewing the fascinating photographs	Ambassador András Simonyi in front of a photo by Ata Kandó

The exhibition was supported by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and MALEV Hungarian Airlines. It will be open from September 6 to October 29, 2006, at American University's Katzen Arts Center, located at 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC. Gallery hours: Tue-Thur 11am-4pm; Fri-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 12-4pm. Free admission. You can find more information at www.american.edu/museum.

The crowd at the American University Katzen Art Gallery opening of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution photo exhibition

Katzen Exhibit Brochure (PDF)