The exhibition explores the history of pink within the context of design culture. When did pink become a so-called feminine color? How did it appear in the French royal court during the 18th century, in socialist Hungary, and in Hollywood since the 2000s? From being used as a marketing tool to becoming a symbol of feminist movements, the exhibition explores what pink has meant in the past and what it represents today.
The exhibition explores the history of pink within the context of design culture. When did pink become a so-called feminine color? How did it appear in the French royal court during the 18th century, in socialist Hungary, and in Hollywood since the 2000s? From being used as a marketing tool to becoming a symbol of feminist movements, the exhibition explores what pink has meant in the past and what it represents today.
AS LONG AS IT'S PINK
09. 09.–31. 07. 2025. editory, Budapest
EXHIBITING ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS: Dorottya BATÓ, Hanna GOLLOB, Csaba KLEMENT, József Tamás KOVÁCS, Sándor KÖREI, Réka LŐRINCZ, Zsófia PAPP, Marcell PUSKÁS, Hanna RÉDLING, Zeus SALAS, Paula SCHER, Éva SZOMBAT, Patrick TAYLER, Judit ZENGŐVÁRI
CURATORS: edit (Lilla GOLLOB, Kitti MAYER, Réka VIKÁRIUS, Noémi VISKI)
EXHIBITION DOCUMENTATION PHOTOS: Lilla LISZKAY
CONTRIBUTORS AND PARTNERS: ASUS Hungary, Balázs DEÁK, Budapest Poster Gallery (Ádám VÁRKONYI), Petra CSIZIK, Erika Deák Gallery, Egy Csepp Figyelem Alapítvány, Kara & Co., Nóra KASZANYI, KitchenAid Hungary, KLIMCHI, Kira KOROKNAI, LIB Women's Store, Longtermhandstand, Ani Molnár Gallery, Borka MORAVCSIK, Pigmenta Art Print Lab, Pinkponilo, Norna, Solinfo, Sasha Seduction, Bence SZALAY, Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery (Adrienn PRÁGAI), Barnabás WINKLER
Pink is undoubtedly the color most deeply entwined with gender stereotypes, having accumulated new and often contradictory meanings across different eras and cultural contexts. Originally associated with men, pink gradually became a symbol for identities outside the dominant gender, including little girls, women, and the queer culture. Pink carries both hyper-feminine and feminist interpretations and is linked to innocence, sexuality, youth, cuteness, kitsch, and consumer culture, while also appearing in the fields of healing and social activism.
Pink is undoubtedly the color most deeply entwined with gender stereotypes, having accumulated new and often contradictory meanings across different eras and cultural contexts. Originally associated with men, pink gradually became a symbol for identities outside the dominant gender, including little girls, women, and the queer culture. Pink carries both hyper-feminine and feminist interpretations and is linked to innocence, sexuality, youth, cuteness, kitsch, and consumer culture, while also appearing in the fields of healing and social activism.
Pink is undoubtedly the color most deeply entwined with gender stereotypes, having accumulated new and often contradictory meanings across different eras and cultural contexts. Originally associated with men, pink gradually became a symbol for identities outside the dominant gender, including little girls, women, and the queer culture. Pink carries both hyper-feminine and feminist interpretations and is linked to innocence, sexuality, youth, cuteness, kitsch, and consumer culture, while also appearing in the fields of healing and social activism.
The exhibition’s title refers to Penny Sparke’s 1995 design history book, which examines stereotypically feminine taste through the lens of material and consumer culture. Sparke uses pink primarily as a metaphor, paraphrasing the famous saying by car manufacturer Henry Ford: “as long as it’s black.” Drawing on specific examples from object history, she also demonstrates how, in the second half of the 20th century and alongside the rise of the female consumer segment, pink emerged in material culture as a color that challenged modernist dogmas and acted as their ideological and visual counterpoint. Our aim was to recall these rich layers of meaning in the exhibition's scenography: instead of a minimalist layout, the different narratives of pink join together in the space like pieces of a collage. The installation is dense, rich and associative – just like the color pink itself.
The exhibition’s title refers to Penny Sparke’s 1995 design history book, which examines stereotypically feminine taste through the lens of material and consumer culture. Sparke uses pink primarily as a metaphor, paraphrasing the famous saying by car manufacturer Henry Ford: “as long as it’s black.” Drawing on specific examples from object history, she also demonstrates how, in the second half of the 20th century and alongside the rise of the female consumer segment, pink emerged in material culture as a color that challenged modernist dogmas and acted as their ideological and visual counterpoint. Our aim was to recall these rich layers of meaning in the exhibition's scenography: instead of a minimalist layout, the different narratives of pink join together in the space like pieces of a collage. The installation is dense, rich and associative – just like the color pink itself.
The exhibition’s title refers to Penny Sparke’s 1995 design history book, which examines stereotypically feminine taste through the lens of material and consumer culture. Sparke uses pink primarily as a metaphor, paraphrasing the famous saying by car manufacturer Henry Ford: “as long as it’s black.” Drawing on specific examples from object history, she also demonstrates how, in the second half of the 20th century and alongside the rise of the female consumer segment, pink emerged in material culture as a color that challenged modernist dogmas and acted as their ideological and visual counterpoint. Our aim was to recall these rich layers of meaning in the exhibition's scenography: instead of a minimalist layout, the different narratives of pink join together in the space like pieces of a collage. The installation is dense, rich and associative – just like the color pink itself.
PENNY SPARKE: As Long as It's Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste, 1995
PENNY SPARKE: As Long as It's Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste, 1995
PENNY SPARKE: As Long as It's Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste, 1995
founders of edit
(Lilla GOLLOB, Kitti MAYER, Réka VIKÁRIUS, Noémi VISKI)
founders of edit
(Lilla GOLLOB, Kitti MAYER, Réka VIKÁRIUS, Noémi VISKI)
founders of edit
(Lilla GOLLOB, Kitti MAYER, Réka VIKÁRIUS, Noémi VISKI)
Our pink narrative begins with edit, a curious and critical female persona who embodies our four-woman professional team of design mediators, with a distinctive shade of pink as one of her signature visual elements. Recently, edit was given the opportunity to manage the event and exhibition space where you’re now standing, captivated above all by its striking pink linoleum floor. This is how editory was born: an urban living room that simultaneously conveys the autonomous spirit of art and design culture while striving for the sustainability of its own independent, market-based operation. Within this duality, pink becomes a metacritique of femininity, culture, and capitalism, serving as a reflective surface where, alongside numerous creators, designers, and projects, we ourselves also appear.
Our pink narrative begins with edit, a curious and critical female persona who embodies our four-woman professional team of design mediators, with a distinctive shade of pink as one of her signature visual elements. Recently, edit was given the opportunity to manage the event and exhibition space where you’re now standing, captivated above all by its striking pink linoleum floor. This is how editory was born: an urban living room that simultaneously conveys the autonomous spirit of art and design culture while striving for the sustainability of its own independent, market-based operation. Within this duality, pink becomes a metacritique of femininity, culture, and capitalism, serving as a reflective surface where, alongside numerous creators, designers, and projects, we ourselves also appear.
Our pink narrative begins with edit, a curious and critical female persona who embodies our four-woman professional team of design mediators, with a distinctive shade of pink as one of her signature visual elements. Recently, edit was given the opportunity to manage the event and exhibition space where you’re now standing, captivated above all by its striking pink linoleum floor. This is how editory was born: an urban living room that simultaneously conveys the autonomous spirit of art and design culture while striving for the sustainability of its own independent, market-based operation. Within this duality, pink becomes a metacritique of femininity, culture, and capitalism, serving as a reflective surface where, alongside numerous creators, designers, and projects, we ourselves also appear.
