As a Hungarian curator living in the United States, I cannot help but see my country as both a cautionary tale and a source of hope for artistic freedom.

Having lived under Viktor Orbán's regime for 16 years, his recent defeat still feels hard to believe. People in Budapest dance in the streets, celebrating the end of his grip on art institutions that once spread ethno-nationalist ideologies.

The Hungarian art scene now stands at a watershed moment. The task of restoring our institutional ecosystem is immense, much like after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Watching this transformation from abroad, I see Hungary both as an example of how ideological control can suffocate critical thinking and artistic freedom, and a beacon that such regimes can be dismantled.

When Orbán came to power in 2010 with a parliamentary supermajority, he introduced the System of National Cooperation (NER), intended to unite Hungary through social and economic reforms. In practice, it became a network of loyal business elites who directly benefited from these changes. NER expanded rapidly, attaching its tentacles to cultural institutions while methodically silencing critical voices.

The Hungarian art scene was quickly transformed. The conservative Hungarian Academy of Arts gained unprecedented control over state grants, and loyalists were appointed to museum leadership positions in flagship contemporary art institutions such as the Kunsthalle and the Ludwig Museum in Budapest. This created a minefield for young curators, gallery directors and art writers.