The One Who Gives Structure to the Hippie Spirit – Alumni Stories with Natália Oszkó-Jakab

The name of the Valley of Arts Festival, which has a history spanning more than 35 years and has by now grown into a complex, multifaceted event, is probably familiar to many. Preparing and organising the week-long summer festival is a year-round job for a small team, which has been led by Natália for many years. 

Natália Oszkó-Jakab graduated in International Relations from Corvinus University. By her own account, she had been interested in diplomacy since she was a child. She grew up in a half Russian-Ukrainian, half Hungarian family and attended primary school in Kharkiv, Ukraine. She experienced the importance of managing conflicts between different peoples at an early age: 

“Let’s be honest, these three nations don’t really like each other, so as a child, I somehow always ended up defending whoever wasn’t present. It was very interesting to experience that in situations like these, I could often make my case through cultural products – films, dance or literature,” she recalls. 

So, it was her childhood experiences that inspired her to pursue a career in culture, while she later acquired the foundations of cultural management at Corvinus. 

“I am successful in my profession precisely because I am not a humanities graduate, but instead received strong economic and legal knowledge at Corvinus. That is why I feel confident handling contracts and putting together the budget for such a large and complex project. This is how I can provide the framework that allows everyone else to embrace the hippie spirit,” she says. 

In the video, she talks in detail about her university experiences and also offers an insight into the joys and challenges of organising a festival.