On whales

In the Netherlands, there is a lot of water, as you might know. Their coastline is longer than their country is from North to South. Last years some shocking events happened on the beach. A lot of whales stranded on the beach. Sad for them. Good for scientists. An attraction for tourists. But mostly it says something on our eco-system: how come whales lose their way and end up on the land?

Here in Ferencvaros, there is a lot of water too. The Danube passes by, sometimes flooding the neighbourhood. The flooding of Ferencvaros in 1838 caused for grand spatial renovations in this part of town. But there are connections with us, humans, too.

In 1961 a dead and stuffed whale called Goliath was exhibited in the City Park. The whale went on tour shortly after, in 1962, and once again in 1963. Thousands of tickets were sold all over the country and people flocked to the cities where the whale was on show. Not that Hungarians had never a whale before, but rumors had it the whale came from the other side of the Iron Curtain. That was something to see.

Soon urban legends accompanied the whale, and its tour. Maybe the whale – 22 meters long – was weighting just as heavy as a ballistic missile and thus the CIA might have thought of using the whale to test Hungarian roads. That of course is just make belief, but as a story it is great.

More narratives evolved around the whale. Lajos Parti Nagy’s short story Giuseppe undo Pusztay, László Krasznahorkai’s novel, The Melancholy of Resistance and Béla Tarr’s film (based on the latter book) Werckmeister Harmonies all feature the whale. So even without a sea one can say the Hungarians love sea life. Or was it the ecosystem of those days which caused Hungarians to think of such an explanation?

These days mysterious things are happening with whales in Budapest.

In 2016 renovations began on Ferenc Ter. This square park was decorated, well decorated, actually the park revolved around a whale. It had arrived via the Danube and decided to rest itself in the park. It could have arrived on the same defaults in the ecological order which caused whales to strand on Dutch beaches last year. Who know? Anyways, the whale was there. Centrally located in the park.

Little children liked to climb on it, elderly women admired the lean image of the muscular body, younger women even went close to the whale and put their feet in the water flowing from the whale’s fountain. Young men tested each other guts by inviting their friends to throw precious belongings over the whale and have other friends catching it on the other side. Old men watched all this and did what old men do best: sit and think. Their minds wandered off to the days of 1962 and 1963, when Goliath toured the country. Back then, they were still young and life was in front rather than behind them. Aaaah. What times lay between this park whale and the days of Goliath.

Earlier, in another part in the city, a whale appeared. A new cultural centre – also serving as a shopping mall – opened along the Danube in 2013, apply called Balna. The last time I was there it was empty. Being in the belly of the beast is a scary thing. It can be dark and warm, you are not breathing fresh air and your wifi doesn’t work. It is an ecosystem almost nobody likes.

What is the connection between all this? Is there some secret we don’t know of? But that whales do understand? A secret system of tunnels reaching out from Dutch beaches to Ferenc Ter? A international connection between the biggest mammals on the planet, speaking their own language, way beyond ours? And that the way they arrive in our societies could tell us something? Something we would understand if we could only understand their languages. But their communication is still a mystery to our scientists, even though they know one thing: they can speak over thousands of kilometers with one another.

Yes, I can hear you think, that is something humans can do as well. But does it wake up the same emotions as sitting next to one another? As with Goliath traveling the land? As amongst Dutch tourists on the beach? As with old men enjoying a park? Or do the whales want to tell us something special? I wonder. And perhaps you too...

[This column was spoken out on the occasion of the performative walk on May 25th 2016]

the nature of our game

Yes we believe in artistic and open processes and yes we can value existing structures and yes we are aware of the bigger constellation so we believe we should always……:

in a constructive and most positive way

or

the Continuity of Parks

One of the shortest stories the Argentine writer, novelist, essayist, the ‘Simon Bolivar of the novel’ [dixit Carlos Fuentes] ever wrote, is “The continuity of parks”.

It is about reading, about identifying with the narrator, about how parks are backgrounds for love, murder, life and storytelling. Read the story here. 

Such a story asks for it being turned into a movie, and no wonder, that happened plenty of times. You can find a Argentine version here, a French version here, a Spanish one here and an English version here 

But perhaps the most beautiful thing is to listen to Cortazar reading his story out aloud. 

Utopia - Speculative design for Ferenc Tér

May the Smile be with you! #felicity 

Dystopia - Speculative design for the world and Ferenc Tér

Why are you so heartless?

Ferenc tér is a very popular park among people in Ferencváros, it is in a central location of the district, it's quite big and green. Despite the heated debate we saw at the community forum, people are probably much more tolerant with each other in everyday life than we think.

Dog owners

There are a lot of people who walk their dogs at Ferenc tér, even though signs show it is forbidden to do so, locals actually consider Ferenc tér quite dog friendly. Also because dog owners clean up after their dogs, and their community uses the square mainly in the evening hours. A woman with children mentioned conflicts with those who owned large dogs, meanwhile someone else with a small dog said she never had any conflict with people at Ferenc tér because of walking her dog there.

Young and dating

Somehow people in their 20s seem to avoid participating in local (community) conversations, despite the fact that they use the square a lot themselves. A young man living in a nearby street said he liked the square because it was nice for first dates; he preferred not having park guards but didn't want to share this at the community forum.

Social life

Elderly people sit a lot on benches at the park, and they are also taking part in community conversations. For them and for families having a dedicated space in the park for socialising would be important but for instance the local government is against having more tables and benches at the park because people would gamble at them. The framing of this same thing came from locals as "it would be nice to have tables and benches so that people could come together to play cards and chess as in other parks in Budapest".

The municipality provides a service for families on Thursdays, afternoon activities are organized for children. There are a lot of families with small children, and after spending a Saturday afternoon at the square, even I think the size of the playground is quite small, the opinion of locals about the need for more toys is a fair demand.

Marginalized and reported at Ferenc tér

The issue of homeless and drug addicts seemed to bother people at the community forum a lot, although I clearly remember spending time at the square last year, and noticing that unlike in more frequented public spaces, homeless staying at Ferenc tér were quite reserved, taking naps in a certain area of the square. A woman yesterday mentioned they preferred to stay at the benches close to the "whales", and they sort of disappeared as the construction started. Two women discussed if it was OK to allow homeless to sleep in the park, one of them said no while the other scorned at her "Why are you so heartless?".

At the community forum the director of the municipality police cited hard numbers of the past year about how many times his staff treated homeless, or reported drug addicts to police. He also said there are about 100 homeless who registered with the authorities as being from Ferencváros (District 9). There was a general push towards a vigilant behaviour (e.g. the park guard, calling police, talks about CCTV), and people in general expected the municipality to initiate things and keep things in order. Not only the authorities but people themselves enjoy the qualities of the park as nice and peaceful, and they are very articulate about the nice things gradually disappearing as you go further in District 9, and the number of homeless increasing on Haller Street.