Turning the corner into one of the underused wings of the Gozdu udvar - where dozens of empty retail units are a sign of stalled economic activity – we came across one of the most famous Hungarian dissidents of the communist era standing alone folding paper flags. Each flag carries a brass-rubbing-style imprint that states ‘1.§ Hungary shall be a Republic’, a significant paragraph from the current Hungarian Constitution that has been left out of the new Fundamental Law that comes into effect on 1st January 2012. As well as forming part of his exhibition, the flags are must have accessories for the press freedom demonstration on the anniversary of the 1956 Revolution.

The bare brick walls of the Mucius Galéria provide the setting for this unusual solo show by an architect and designer whose oppositional activities in the 1980s helped bring down the communist regime. His canvases are based on the same concept as the more mobile protest flags, to highlight the absence of key paragraphs from the new legal framework, with the missing sections made visible using a technique of rubbing or frottage. Rajk told us that none of the more established galleries were prepared to take on his exhibition, because it was too political - which is an interesting paradox, considering that all he is doing is reproducing paragraphs from the existing Hungarian Constitution.

As if to emphasis the international relevance of the forthcoming constitutional changes, the missing paragraphs of the Hungarian Constitution are depicted on the canvases in both Hungarian and English. Among the highlighted omissions, which have also attracted criticism from human rights organisations elsewhere in Europe, are sections dealing with the right to freedom of academic and artistic life, the principle of the sovereignty of the people, and the categorical rejection of warfare as a means to solve international disputes.  With the current clash over pension and banking reform in mind, the decision to drop paragraph 13 § 2 - which guarantees property rights, may also provide food for thought.

Asked about the role of former opposition figures in contemporary protest movements, the veteran dissident smiled and told us that today’s protestors are a completely new generation and that all he wants is to do his bit to help them. For one thing, the technology of protest has changed since the early 1980s, when, together with the now ex-mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky, László Rajk set up an underground press and ran an illegal bookstore called ‘Samizdat Boutique’ from his flat. Today information about Rajk’s exhibition - and the series of protests organised by former and new dissidents in the One Million for the Freedom of Press movement – circulates freely on social media websites, and there is even a link on the artist’s webpage showing you how to print and create your own Missing Paragraph flag.

Further more about the campaign of former East European dissidents for human rights and democracy in Hungary see: www.iprotest.hu