New Town: Dunaújváros, Hungary
Organisation: Institute of Contemporary Art of Dunaujvaros

Nóra Deák is a specialist in public culture, he is the current director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, since 1988 the director of its predecessor, the creator and facilitator of numerous contemporary exhibitions, and one of the main shapers of the Institute’s current character. In the course of her work, she has always considered it important to include the associative arts alongside the exhibitions, to process and accept Socialist Realist traditions, and to cooperate with the city’s network of institutions in order to create and promote a more livable Dunaújváros. It has helped to organise several exhibitions on Socialist Realist architecture, and has also supported the Virtual City project, which has enabled local artists to explore the potential of the city. She has initiated countless community-building initiatives, with varying degrees of success. Currently, she sees cultural economic development and adaptation to changing cultural habits as her main challenges. In 2009, she was the main organiser of the Private Republic created by Andreja Kulunčić, which was shut down under external political pressure. Kulunčić invited the people of Dunaújváros to create ideas - witty ones, based on a single idea, but also more comprehensive "dreams" - about what they would like the (near) future to be like.