"My Stories" – A Retrospective Exhibition

Rita Sonkodi’s retrospective exhibition, titled "My Stories" (Történeteim), opened on December 14, 2023, in Szeged’s most beautiful gallery space at 1 Takaréktár Street. The painter’s very first exhibition debuted 25 years ago, and as Klára Szeberényi, the host of the evening, remarked at the opening: "Looking at Rita, one would think she must have been only about ten years old back then..." That first solo exhibition took place three decades ago, just one street away from the current venue. As the artist recounted in her opening speech, the weather that day was so treacherous that the art historian traveling from Budapest only made it as far as Kecskemét by car due to a blizzard. Stuck there, they had to go into a local museum to "fax" the text of the opening speech to Szeged. Ultimately, the then-director of the Móra Ferenc Museum read the adventurously delivered text to an audience who had all arrived looking as though they were seeking refuge in a mountain shelter. However, the stormy atmosphere quickly vanished when, at the start of the ceremony, the artist’s young daughter, Lili, saw her mother standing alone before the large crowd. She ran out and clung to her mother's leg throughout the entire speech so she wouldn't have to be alone. Naturally, it has been a long journey from that first show to this retrospective collection. As the artist noted, this exhibition marks the conclusion of a life chapter that spans multiple artistic periods. With the loss of her mother—the most devoted admirer of her art—the entire family begins a new era. Her mother now watches the opening from above, surely rejoicing in the artist's success.