installation in the local community centre

Wishes from Zsámbék
a community art work for a small village in Hungary.

"Starting point of this project is a collection of statements that we have assembled through street interviews with inhabitants of Zsámbék. The question asked was what one wished for the near future of Zsámbék, what one felt lacking or what would need improvement. These wishes are presented without any context that could allow for classification of the answers in terms of sex, age, education or profession. The anonymity shields the force of the messages against being explained away as typical for a certain group - and therefore not worth taking serious. No further images were added to avoid unnecessary distraction. The background image was chosen as a token for the whole of the village of Zsámbék. Empty cards were added to leave room for spontaneous reactions of the visitors of this exhibition.

As artist we are neutral and impartial with respect to the possible implications of the statements. The intent of this community art project is in no way political. However, it lies in the nature of a wish to ask for fulfillment. Therefore, confrontation with these wishes immediately raises a multitude of questions in the minds of the local reader as to how these wishes could be put into deed, how much one should desire for certain wishes to come true or what economical wonder should happen to Zsámbék in order to provide the funds for the execution of some of them. If regarded in its totality as a collection, one could ask, on a more theoretical level, what these wishes reveal about the village. Do they tell us in any way as what the people experience their hometown? Would the answer to this question give insight into the factual needs of the community? Now that these wishes are taken from the private sphere and made visible in public space, perhaps they will transform into topics of discussion in the village, whereas the discussions, in turn, could be transformed into concrete action, somewhere in the near future of Zsámbék."

Such was the text accompanying the project presentation in the community building of the village. Coming from a Western European country where such a project would most likely be met with indifference, we had not expected the chain of reactions the project entailed. After a few days, the empty cards were used as a lively discussion forum for a number of topics. And when we came back one year later, the cards had not been taken down from the walls. The biggest surprise, however, was to see that some of the wishes expressed by the community had in the mean time become reality. The village playground was fenced to keep out the dogs, steps were taken to improve the water quality, a sign drawing attention to the village's major tourist attraction was placed near the highway exit. Sometimes, small miracles seem possible.

First exhibited in 2000