cooking, lecture, exhibition, workshop, street action, tasting, gathering, concert
An event by the Kontextus Program, Pictoric, Verzió Film Festival, and the Unity Ukrainian Association
November 13, 2025, 17:00–20:00
CEU Open Gallery (1051 Budapest, Nádor u. 11.)
Borscht is one of the most ingredient-rich dishes, a Ukrainian national symbol and part of its cultural heritage. There are over a hundred known recipes for it. It’s the ultimate beetroot dish — and, not least, also the name of a canteen in the science fiction novel Roadside Picnic (and Tarkovsky’s film Stalker). So many contexts — to which we now add one more.
On November 13, the Kontextus Program, Pictoric, the Verzió Film Festival, and the Unity Ukrainian Association will cook borscht and share it with the participants of the event.
17:00–18:00 - Kinga Lendeczki: Art in action
(lecture, CEU N15 Room 103)
Contemporary Ukrainian art has been shaped by decades of political and social crises, revolutions, and the war that has been ongoing since 2014. We will discuss what possibilities for action are available for artists in a state of permanent crisis. Can they be active agents of the political, social and cultural changes that affect them, and if so, how can they influence them? Our starting point will be the Orange Revolution (2004), followed by the events of Euromaidan (2013-2014), which will lead us to the question: What role can art play in war?
18:00–20:00 - Yellow & Blue Exhibition and Workshop + Borscht Tasting, Verzió “Guests Meet Guests”
(CEU Open Gallery)
The community of Ukrainian illustrators, graphic designers, and artists known as Pictoric will hold a workshop as part of their Yellow & Blue exhibition. Meanwhile, in the nearby kitchen of the Unity Ukrainian Association, borscht will be prepared and served as part of a Kontextus street action. It can also be enjoyed in the gallery, which will simultaneously host the Verzió Film Festival’s “Guests Meet Guests” event.
19:00 - Frutti Di Mare concert
(CEU Open Gallery)
The entrance is free!
