"I sincerely hope that this decision will be reversed, and that Szabó Gyuri and the team is able to maintain Trafó"

I utterly and wholeheartedly express solidarity with Szabó Gyuri and current Trafó team. 

I have had the privilege of working at the Trafó on numerous occasions since 2004 through the "Making New Waves" New Music Festival. 

I have also attended events there, as a member of the audience, of Hungarian and International programmes. These direct experiences enable me to acknowledge both the strength and importance of the contribution, the Trafó, administered by Szabó Gyuri and his team, makes to the cultural life of Budapest, Hungary and Europe. 

I sincerely hope that this decision will be reversed, and that Szabó Gyuri and the team is able to maintain Trafó as the nationally and internationally significant cultural venue as it is currently recognised.

Stewart Collinson, Artist-Film-maker, UK

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"This change of leadership will not lead to new opportunities, but it will close them down"

I am a U.S. based programmer, and every time I have been to Hungary, the draw has been the Trafo Contemporary Art House that Gyorgy Szabo envisioned and brought to life.  

Under Gyorgy's direction, Trafo is part of an international network of contemporary art spaces that not only brings beautiful, provocative and inspiring performance from around the world to Budapest, but it highlights Hungarian artists and projects as well.  

Ironically, it was Gyorgy who first introduced me to the work of Yvette Bozsik, and Pal Frenak, and countless other Hungarian artists. Gyorgy's vision has made Trafo an important hub on the map of international performance.  

We need Gyorgy Szabo's tenacious leadership and vision for the arts not only in Budapest, but also to bring Hungary into an international dialogue about contemporary art, and to bring artists from Hungary into a broader context.  

Without Gyorgy, we will all miss a Trafo that has impact and creates opportunities.

This change of leadership will not lead to new opportunities, but it will close them down.

Cathy Edwards, International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven CT

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"I know that if Gyuri would not run Trafo, I will not get these latest, daring, cutting edge entertainment at hand any more"

I was just a student when I approached Trafo in year 2000 with the international student film festival EMERGEANDSEE which I was organizing at the time.
I contacted all possible venues including Art cinemas in Budapest and only Gyuri himself replied to me asking me to show him the films that I wanted to screen.
I remember he looked at the films and was little bit dubious, but curiously interested and said I can have the venue. Just like that.  And followed the success of EMERGEANDSEE film festival in Budapest.
I would like to emphasis the point that NO other venue in whole Budapest even replied but Trafo, and on top of that it had given this unknown Erasmus student from London a chance. I must also mention other staff of Trafo who had so sincerely professionally helped me to organize the shows.  

Even after I stopped running the the event, I kept going back to Trafo because of great international theatres and dances, which I couldn't see in any other venues in the city. I can name a few, such as Societas Raffaelo Sanzio,  Random Dance company, Rosas, Wim Vandekeybus, DV8, Akram Kahn, Forced Entertainment and many other, which I'm sure I could never have accessed so easily in Budapest if not for Trafo. I am, for quite selfish reasons, at despair because I know that if Gyuri would not run Trafo, I will not get these latest, daring, cutting edge entertainment at hand any more!

For the last 5 years I also have been taking contemporary dance course organized by Workshop foundation, and is run in Trafo's rehearshal room.
There was a demonstration day for those dance courses at Trafo the other day. After the performance one colleague of mine mumbled, "It feels like home whenever coming back to Trafo and coming to the classes every week.  It is terrible to think that Trafo may not be the way it has been..."  She spoke all our minds.  

Trafo, as I see it, is more than just a venue.  It has accommodated so many artistic, positive, daring, creative minds.
And whom can we thank for that other than Gyuri?

Hana Yamazaki, former organizer of EMERGEANDSEE

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"We at Circa urge a new, better decision"

Circa had the honour of performing at Trafo in 2010.
To step on the stage that hosted so many legends, to be received by such a literate and culturally sensitive audience, to be looked after as colleagues and to be met with standing ovations was true pleasure. 

More than a pleasure, it was the living embodiment of our great, human cultural and artistic conversation. 

Under Gyorgy Szabo's inspired direction, Trafo became an indispensable centre of contemporary physical performance in central Europe. It was positioned at the centre of that conversation – a vital part of us understanding and sharing who we are and what we can imagine.
The decision to remove Gyorgy is wrong. He is a phenomenon - it is by virtue of his passion and labour that Budapest enjoys a truly world-leading venue. 

We at Circa urge a new, better decision. 

One that leaves Gyorgy leading Trafo, one that keeps Budapest on the cultural map, one that brings the best of arts practice into contact with great audiences.
It is written in the book of Mishleh (Provebs) "Where there is no vision, the people perish". Gyorgy provides precisely the vision needed in these times. 

We need him.

Yaron Lifschitz, Artistic Director, Circa 

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DV8, London: "Without [Gyuri] at Trafo, there is a very real danger that Budapest will fall off the touring schedule of many international companies and that independent Hungarian artists don't get the exposure they deserve. Poor Hungary"

We at DV8 are deeply concerned about the developments at Trafo House of Contemporary Arts. Trafo is an extremely well-respected presenting and co-producing venue for dance, theatre, music and visual arts, which is wholly down to  Gyorgy Szabo's knowledgeable, sophisticated and innovative programming. He has impeccable taste, is a natural networker and pursues projects with great tenacity – not everybody can do that. Without him at Trafo, there is a very real danger that Budapest will  fall off the touring schedule of many international companies and that independent Hungarian artists don't get the exposure they deserve. Poor Hungary.

Eva Pepper, Executive Producer, DV8 Physical Theatre, London

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"So many years of very good work! It is a shame to break this apart! "

I'm so sorry for all of you! After so many years of very good work! It is a shame to break this apart! I surely wish I could help you because I know what you are worth. I want to recall with pleasure the strength of the collaboration we shared when I was still professionally active; I witnessed how you created from nothing a fantastic dynamic in your plural strong artistic program… It was courageous artistic view that brought hope to the Hungarian artists opening the European scenes to them.

Lorrina-Barrientos, ex director of the Rencontres chorégraphique Internationale de Seine St. Denis that generated the International Plate-Forms for dance and co-fondator of the Biennale Nationale de la danse du Val de Marne 

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"Gyuri, you are a true pioneer -- Trafo is you. It will be a shell without you"

I am horrified by the decision of the Budapest city government. Please know that you are part of a strong global community, and we all stand with you. I am sending you strength and support from New York. Gyuri, you are a true pioneer --Trafo is you. It will be a shell without you.

Barbara Lanciers, director and choreographer, New York 

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"We would like to express our concerns about the current evolution in Trafo"

"As Bains Connective, artistic workspace based in Brussels, we would like to express our concerns about the current evolution in Trafo"

Diana Raspoet, general management & production, Bains Connective, Brussels

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