Photo exhibition traces decades of China-Hungary exchanges

A photo exhibition at a Beijing cafe is displaying archival images documenting cultural exchanges between Hungary and China from the mid-20th century. The "Keresztmetszet" exhibition at Here Cafe runs through Sept. 19.

The photographs, taken from Hungary's Fortepan archive, capture sports events, performances and daily interactions that shaped diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The exhibition reframes these historical images as journalistic artifacts rather than simple documentation. Presented among cups and tables in an intimate cafe setting, the prints invite close looking and reflective imagining — the applause in the auditorium, the photographer's decisive shutter, the incidental handshake on a street corner. 

The Liszt Institute and the Hungarian Cultural Center organized the exhibition to demonstrate how archival photography documents cultural diplomacy between nations.

Posters and prints invite passersby into the "Keresztmetszet" exhibition at Here Cafe in Beijing, China, Sept. 8, 2025. [Photo by Liu Ziying/China.org.cn]