We toured the Memento Park today, an amazing exhibition "in the shadow of Stalin's boots". All the Communist monuments of Budapest were taken from our streets after the political changes as they reminded our people of the dictatorship, of the despotism of the Communist leaders. Instead of destroying them all - which idea was by the way supported by many of the Budapesters - some of these statues were installed in a thematical statue park in the 22nd district of Budapest. According to the conceptual designer, the "park is not about the statues or the sculptors but a critique of the ideology that used these statues as symbols of authority". I remember very well many of these statues standing on our streets, most of them had special nicknames and funny stories were also created about them. I'm happy to share these stories with you and tell you about the monumentality of the arts during the Communist era where the main objective was to create new idols to be adored by the proletariat. I'll also tell you why you can see only the boots of Stalin, and I'll introduce you to the ideology of the era which ended recently, some 28 years ago.
We toured the Memento Park today, an amazing exhibition “in the shadow of Stalin’s boots”.
All the Communist monuments of Budapest were taken from our streets after the political changes as they reminded our people of the dictatorship, of the despotism of the Communist leaders. Instead of destroying them all – which idea was by the way supported by many of the Budapesters – some of these statues were installed in a thematical statue park in the 22nd district of Budapest. According to the conceptual designer, the “park is not about the statues or the sculptors but a critique of the ideology that used these statues as symbols of authority”.
I remember very well many of these statues standing on our streets, most of them had special nicknames and funny stories were also created about them. I’m happy to share these stories with you and tell you about the monumentality of the arts during the Communist era where the main objective was to create new idols to be adored by the proletariat. I’ll also tell you why you can see only the boots of Stalin, and I’ll introduce you to the ideology of the era which ended recently, some 28 years ago.
Yes, the Trabant is noisy and it smells. Every time I get in the Trabi I feel like a child again. It was our family car, our holiday car, I can't count how many times our precious little car took us to the lake Balaton or to the Mátra mountains. It was the only treasure we had as the communist leaders didn't really allow people possessing much. There are some parts of Budapest where the time stopped 30 years ago when the last few Trabants rolled down the assembly line. I'd like to show them to you during the Trabant tour, I'll tell you about the not that glorious decades of socialism, I'll share with you funny and poignant stories from behind the Iron Curtain. I'm sure you'll shortly realize that freedom is one of the most valuable gifts and we have to learn to appreciate it.
Yes, the Trabant is noisy and it smells. Every time I get in the Trabi I feel like a child again. It was our family car, our holiday car, I can’t count how many times our precious little car took us to the lake Balaton or to the Mátra mountains. It was the only treasure we had as the communist leaders didn’t really allow people possessing much.
There are some parts of Budapest where the time stopped 30 years ago when the last few Trabants rolled down the assembly line. I’d like to show them to you during the Trabant tour, I’ll tell you about the not that glorious decades of socialism, I’ll share with you funny and poignant stories from behind the Iron Curtain. I’m sure you’ll shortly realize that freedom is one of the most valuable gifts and we have to learn to appreciate it.
