Katalin Erdődi to step down as Artistic and Managing Director of Trafó

“I am proud that Trafó was able to operate as a sensitive, experimental, and courageous institution of international relevance during a challenging and politically charged period, standing up for the freedom of art,” said Katalin Erdődi, Trafó’s Artistic and Managing director.

The Municipality of Budapest and Katalin Erdődi, Artistic and Managing Director of Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, have mutually agreed to terminate her executive directorship. The conclusion of this collaboration is based on a mutual decision by the parties and reflects recognition of the professional work carried out in recent years. The program for the 2026/2027 season will be put together by the Trafó team under the leadership of Katalin Erdődi, who will remain at the helm of the institution until the end of 2026. According to today’s decision by the Budapest City Council, an open call for applications for the position of executive director at Trafó is expected to be announced as early as July.

Katalin Erdődi took over the leadership of Trafó in early 2025. During her tenure, the institution further strengthened its key position on the domestic, regional, and international contemporary art scenes, while expanding its activities with a new program structure—featuring multidisciplinary artistic approaches that reflect on social issues—and with unconventional initiatives that extend beyond the capital.

Under her leadership, Trafó placed a strong emphasis on exploring current social issues through art, as well as on involving diverse communities and perspectives. In line with this approach, Trafó launched, among other initiatives, thematic focus weekends that brought together performing arts, visual arts, and discursive events through comprehensive programs. Such initiatives included the multidisciplinary focus weeks titled “The End of Violence”, “Artificial Realities”, “Nothing About Us Without Us”, and “work-free-time”

“It was a great honor for me to lead Trafó during this period. Over the past year and a half, my colleagues and I have worked to ensure that the institution is not merely a venue for contemporary art, but also an open space where we can collectively reflect on the social issues that affect us through art. I consider the thematic focus weekends to be particularly important, as they have created new points of connection between artists, communities, and audiences—whether addressing various forms of violence, the relationship between work and leisure, or the self-assertion of minority groups that differ from mainstream society in some way,” —said Katalin Erdődi. “The past year and a half has also shown me that while my strength, given my professional background, lies in arts management, executive duties present such a complex challenge that I did not see myself being able to fulfill them in a sustainable manner over the long term.”

Trafó House of Contemporary Arts and the Budapest Municipal Government would like to express their gratitude to Katalin Erdődi for her work on behalf of the institution, as well as for the artistic and organizational developments that have contributed to further strengthening Trafó’s professional reputation.

The institution will continue to operate smoothly even during the leadership transition.
The fall 2026 programs are now available!

Press Contact:
Johanna Majercsik, Communications Director
jojo@trafo.hu