Születésnapi üzenetek és visszaemlékezések Klaniczay Júlia, az Artpool társalapítója 70. születésnapja alkalmából

Kristine Stiles

Happy Birthday Júlia Klaniczay!

Dear Júlia,

Please accept my best wishes on your birthday, and my fondest memories of you on this celebratory occasion. You and György Galantai gave me the privilege of doing research at Artpool, now some thirty-one years ago, I shall never forget meeting you, admiring your beauty, and having sincere respect for your vast knowledge and generosity. What particularly stands out is the intellectual support that you offered me, as well as the confidence, respect, and trust you exhibited in my scholarly pursuits, despite not knowing anything about me to say nothing of my general ignorance of Hungarian art at that time. No doubt, you must have observed my insecurity regarding that lack of familiarity, but you gave me the benefit of the doubt for showing up with an honest interest in the renowned archive you had established.

I have learned so much from the Artpool archive. As I write now, I also flip through Törvénytelen avantgárd. Galantai György balatonboglári kápolnaműterme 1970-1973. This important volume is one that I can barely read, but consult nevertheless, eking out slow translations of key ideas. I also have numerous other catalogues published by Artpool that you generously gave me. In addition, you honored me in 2013 by asking me to write the "Preface" to ARTPOOL The Experimental Art Archive of East-Central Europe. History of an active archive for producing, networking, curating, and researching art since 1970.

Given all the above, I want to take this public opportunity to offer a belated apology for not mentioning Artpool in the lecture I gave in 2021 entitled "Collecting the Future," which appears in Emese Kürti's and Zsuzsa László's book What Will Be Already Exists: Temporalities of Cold War Archives in East-Central Europe and Beyond (Budapest, Hungary). I am especially chagrined regarding my egregious oversight, as that lecture would not have been possible without your support and the immeasurable significance of your accomplishments in conceptualizing, building, and sustaining the unique Artpool archive.

Let me close by thanking you again for the knowledge you have bestowed to me and to countless scholars and artists, as well as publics throughout the world. I wish you many more years of good health, vigor, joy, and love

Yours with sincere respect, and affection,

Kristine Stiles
(2024)