Black Lives Matter artwork in Budapest causes rage among rightist politicians – The Guardian
A Black Lives Matter artwork planned to be installed for two weeks in the ninth district caused quite the outrage among rightwing politicians so much that the sculptor itself is afraid that his work will be destroyed.
The installation that recently won a tender for public art will be one of seven pieces chosen to be on display next spring in the capital, but only this particular one hit the headlines. It will be a one-metre tall sculpture in the colours of the rainbow promoting the BLM movement. It was created by Péter Szalay, who fears it will be destroyed once it is erected, since
rightist parties are already attacking the installation, and it has received threats of demolition.
Commentators on the actual pro-government television threatened to pull it down if it gets installed, while others laughed saying it was an absurdity, wanting to put it out, considering the low number of black people living in Budapest – writes the Guardian.com. Péter Szalay says that “pulling down statues as part of the BLM movement is actually going on in the United States, while here in Hungary the issue inspires the installation of one. It is important to note that the work contains both narratives, making it not directly a BLM propaganda statue. We have to understand it as something that represents all actions that have caused turbulences in the United States.”
The tender was organised by the deputy of the district’s mayor, Dada Suzi, from the Two-Tailed Dog Party. She said she wanted to recreate the traditions of public street arts, for which she thinks the government has little time.
“For Fidesz culture politics is all about historical memories and memorials, it relativises Hungary’s role in the Second World War and paints a picture of us as victims.”- she said.
Gergely Gulyás, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff said back in December that the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States is a racist movement that does not recognise white and black people as equals, which goes against all human rights thinking of the 20th century. Based on this, not those against the sculpture are racist but those who make it happen.
Probably none of these people or politicians considered the fact that the statue is planned to be showcased for only two weeks, not as a permanent part of the district’s decoration.
Source: theguardian.com