Hungarian artists celebrate Viktor Orban’s election loss

Many of the most popular and influential artists in Hungary celebrated strongman leader Viktor Orban’s decisive election loss Sunday, according to a review of posts to social media by Urgent Matter.

Orbán and his FIDESZ party, which have governed Hungary since 2010, lost the election Sunday to TISZA, the opposition party led by Péter Magyar, who framed the result as a mandate to restore institutional independence and reorient Hungary toward the European Union.

TISZA is projected to form a government with a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority, a threshold that would allow it to amend Hungary’s constitution and dismantle key elements of the political and cultural system built under Orbán.

In brief remarks late Sunday, Orbán conceded defeat, acknowledging the result after preliminary returns showed TISZA with a commanding lead. He said the outcome reflected the will of voters.

Orbán built what he has described as an “illiberal state,” oversaw a sweeping restructuring of the country’s cultural sector, centralizing funding and elevating loyalist institutions while critics said independent artists and organizations were pushed to the margins.

Marton Nemes, who represented Hungary at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, shared a photo on Instagram of himself casting his ballot reviewed by Urgent Matter. “Goodbye Orban, welcome TISZA,” he wrote.

Artist Botond Keresztesi, a Romanian-born artist in Hungary whose work has been exhibited across Europe, posted videos of packed subway cars and crowds waving flags and celebrating on the streets.

“The guys drove 120 km just to make sure someone who can't steer doesn't win,” Keresztesi said in a post. With it, he used a sticker that said, “Voting is HOT.”

ISBN Plus, an independent contemporary art bookshop and cultural center, shared a photograph of a staged coffin scene filled with soil, flowers, candles, and fruit, with a mask resembling Orbán placed inside, evoking a symbolic burial. That post was liked by Keresztesi and reposted by artist Szilvia Bolla.

And the artist duo Borsos Lőrinc reposted a post from fellow artist Balázs Ágoston Kiss stating, “Let’s put an end to this regime.” In their own post, Borsos Lőrinc urged followers to “Go vote!”

While artists across Hungary were vocal in their response, none of the galleries and dealers reviewed by Urgent Matter had made public posts about the result. Public posts from museums and their workers were also scarce, reflecting the continued sensitivity of political speech within state-funded institutions.

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