Hauntology

Memento Park (Szoborpark, designed by Ákos Eleőd) was opened on June 27, 1993 on the outskirts of Budapest – on the second anniversary of the Red Army leaving Hungary. It is a unique attempt in this part of Europe to create a place devoted entirely to propaganda, socialist realist and socialmodern monuments from the communist era. In Memento Park, 42 ​​monuments from 1947-1988, from various districts of Budapest, were collected. Today in their place it is sometimes difficult to find any trace of them; sometimes – on the contrary – traces are still legible. A frequent practice after 1989 was also building the so-called counter-monuments, symbolizing their meanings. Postmodern architecture imitating totalitarian urban systems reflects the ambivalent nature of this place: a memorial site and an amusement park at the same time. Although it has been 26 years since its opening, work on the architecture of Memento Park remains incomplete: its space is gradually deteriorating, it has already gotten old before it was completely shaped. Decontextualized, devoid of their function and meaning, monuments slowly die in this strange space, leading a ghostly life in the endless spaces of the Hungarian Plain.
Part of the project carried out for the Polish Modern Art Foundation and the Exhibition Bureau (Warsaw).