Re:walking the city
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In June and July of 2020 we organized a series of city walks set both in the public and the digital, online space. Now out of the eighteen walks of our Wa(l)king the city project we can repeat and rethink four under the title Re:walking the city. In the June and July of 2020 eighteen artists and artist duos went on walks around Budapest: their performative works came to life both in the city and virtual space thanks to their regular livestreams during the five hours walks. Our Wa(l)king the city project was inspired by the coronavirus pandemic, and our goal was to slowly starts taking back our public spaces in a way that could be broadcast online in a safe manner in the spirit of social distancing.
Half of the original walks were designed to be exprienced digitally, while there were some which were singular, one-time works of art which cannot be repeated. However, we felt that a smaller group of participants could experience some of our remaining projects in person. We chose four such walks, which were all created using new methods, allowing participants to see their relationship to public spaces in a different light. SOMLÓ Dávid’s Ringing inspires us to experience public spaces in a meditative, personal and communal way. MURÁNYI Marcell’s Bug walk focuses on being environmentally conscientious, while leaving permanents marks in the city space. Blaha-walk – created by Ine van HOREN, a young Flemish artist studying at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts – examines one of Budapest’s ambivalent, yet city defining spaces and its iconic building from the viewpoint of urban anthropology, while JUHÁSZ Gergő Kaska’s Make it visible project looks for connections between homelessness and public art in a unique way, aiming to raise public and social awareness. During the creation of latter three walks we were aided by Imagine Budapest which researches the secrets of Budapest and organizes thematic city walks. Mentor: BÁLINT Angelika (Imagine Budapest)
About ImagineBudapest ImagineBudapest organizes themed city walks, and is committed to helping people see the beauty of the city, both the echoes of its past, and the message of its present. We have been organizing our tours for twelve years now, and we are also pleased to take part in collaborations that bring the city closer to its residents and to travellers passing through. In our opinion the buildings in Budapest are just a kind of facade. We believe Budapest is actually defined by the people, the citizens who lived their daily lives here: dreaming, building, working, making love, raising children, studying, teaching, or just staying here on their way somewhere else. All of them had an impact on this city, just like those living here define it today. They might have lived through a scandalous story, created a beautifully crafted doorknob, invented some new beauty product, built a four-story apartment building, achieved success in a sport, created a cake recipe, or left behind a love letter on the last page of a newspaper. Without them, Budapest would not be what it is today.
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