ERDÉLYI HELIKON 100. "The circles, the circles – do not leave them." – The dialogue between image and word in the fine arts of the "Erdélyi Helikon" magazine
The Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca, a public cultural institution operating under the authority of the Cluj County Council, together with the Liszt Institute Sfântu Gheorghe, the Transylvanian Art Center, and the Treasure Cluj Association, invite the public to visit, between August 16 and September 6, 2026, the exhibition "Erdélyi Helikon 100" - "The circles, the circles – do not leave them." – The dialogue between image and word in the fine arts of the "Erdélyi Helikon" magazine. The opening will take place on Sunday, August 16, 2026, starting at 6:00 PM, in the courtyard of the Bánffy Palace. Speakers: Lucian Nastasă-Kovács, manager of the Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca, Grezsa Csaba, Consul General of Hungary in Cluj-Napoca, Szebeni Zsuzsanna, coordinator of the Liszt Institute in Sfântu Gheorghe, and Bordás Beáta, coordinator of the Transylvanian Art Center. Artistic performance by: Classic Trio.
Erdélyi Helikon was not just a literary community: from the very beginning, the Heliconian idea was closely linked to the fine arts as well. Painters, graphic artists, illustrators, and writers created within a shared intellectual space, while image and word, engaged in continuous dialogue, contributed to shaping one of the most important hubs of Hungarian culture in Transylvania.The exhibition "The circles, the circles – do not leave them." – The dialogue between image and word in the fine arts of the Erdélyi Helikon magazine", organized within the framework of the Erdélyi Helikon 100 centenary program, evokes this rich and diverse relationship. The exhibition aims to explore how literature and fine arts converged around the Helikon movement, what artistic relationships, friendships, and shared ideas were born, and how visuality became an organic part of the Heliconian spirit.
The featured works come from public, ecclesiastical, and private collections. Artworks from the heritage of the Transylvanian Art Center and the Sapientia Foundation, the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, the Székely Museum of Ciuc, the Haáz Rezső Museum in Odorheiu Secuiesc, the Gy. Szabó Béla Memorial Museum, the Archives of the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania, and the Hungarian Unitarian Church, alongside documents and objects from the archives of the Kemény, Kós, Bánffy, Olosz, and Szentimrei families, as well as from the collection of Zoltán Novák, piece back together the rich universe of visual arts associated with the Heliconian movement.
Curator: Szebeni Zsuzsanna
Co-curators: Bordás Beáta, Portik Blénessy Ágota
Organizers: Liszt Institute, Sfântu Gheorghe; Transylvanian Art Center Association; Municipality of Sfântu Gheorghe; Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca.
Sponsors: State Secretariat for National Policy – Bethlen Gábor Fund, Carola Association, Hungarian Academy of Arts, National Cultural Fund
The exhibition will be open from August 17 to September 6, 2026, from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive (from Monday to Sunday during the Hungarian Cultural Days), between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.
