Exhibition

Venue: Semmelweis University – Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research (1085 Budapest, Üllői út 26.)

Exhibiting artists: Ádám Albert, Emese Benczúr, Dániel Máté, Barnabás Neogrády-Kiss, Dorottya Poór, Zsuzsi Simon

The primary means of reducing misconceptions and fears around cancer is through dialogue. To talk more openly about the subject, we turn to art. We hope that contemporary art can bring in a different approach to help us move towards breaking down the taboos surrounding cancer.

During the C80 project, the exhibiting artists and the curators learned about the diagnosis, types, treatment and psychological implications of cancer through workshops, lectures and discussions. Oncologists, pathologists, medical students, psychologists and cancer survivors have been involved in the process for more than half a year, and the collaboration has resulted in the creation of site-specific works on display. The artworks produced during and after the sessions aim to open up a new perspective on thinking about cancer. They do so by focusing on different aspects of cancer: from stigma and altered self-image, to misconceptions and the sci-fi-like realities of cancer, to the complex diagnostic process, its intransparency and the intimate, human moments experienced during the disease.

In the case of tumours, it is inevitable that, in addition to the physical symptoms, there will be a sense of illness and stigma, both on the part of the patient and those around them. The latter condition, stigma, is one of the subjects of Susan Sontag’s text, Illness as Metaphor, in which she states (relying mainly on literary examples) that ‘it seems unimaginable to aestheticize the disease’. The subtitle of the exhibition and of the project alludes to this, while C80 is an ICD (International Classification of Diseases) code referring to malignant neoplasm, without specification of site. The code, rarely used on its own, expresses the presence of cancer, but also leaves room to address any type of it and in any way, while the question in the subtitle invites us to override our general thinking about the disease.

The exhibition is hosted at the Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research (also home to the project), which is visited by specialists, cancer researchers, medical students and, from time to time, patients. The opening of the building to the general public is both an attempt to bring information about the disease that seems inaccessible and an opportunity for collective reflection. As it stands, we will all be involved in cancer, nearer or further away. That is why we need a change of attitude, so that we do not immediately identify this disease with death – and this is an important task not only for science, but also for our society.

Curators: Dalma Eszter Kollár, Kristóf Kovács (Gergely Sajnos)

Project leader: Richárd Kiss, MD, PhD

Graphic design: Flóra Pálhegyi