Does it seem that the one-size-fits-all solution to poverty and underdevelopment, anywhere, is tourism? Agro-, heritage, extreme – anything but “mass” – tourism is touted as the ideal way to inject money into local communities at the grassroots, small business level, attracting visitors, journalists and, eventually, the National Geographic Channel.
There is much to be said for this approach. After all, tourism has been instrumental in raising living standards in many parts of Europe, from Switzerland in the 19th century to Greece in the mid-20th and the Czech Republic, etc, etc., in the late 20th century.
Can the same happen in some of Europe’s most deprived rural communities? One Hungarian village is trying it out. The residents of Bódvalenke are mostly Roma, and they are hoping to capitalize on the idea of the emotional, sensitive Gypsy soul to attract visitors to this northeastern corner of Hungary, near the Slovak border. A scheme has been going since 2009 to cover the walls of the village houses with colorful frescoes, some quite beautiful.
Probably it doesn’t matter much that the frescoes are not the work of Bódvalenke residents themselves. Rather, prominent Romani artists were invited to do most of the painting, notably the Serbian Zoran Tairovic.
In honor of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, someone added a speeding Formula 1 car to one of the frescoes. The effect is a bit crude, as can be seen in this YouTube video, but maybe this will bring some new visitors to the village. According to this article, the idea to transform Bódvalenke into an “art village” came to activist Eszter Pásztor several years ago after she witnessed a march by the virulently xenophobic Hungarian Guard.
Projects like the one in Bódvalenke deserve much praise for trying to bring poor rural areas into the economic mainstream. The proximity of a major tourist attraction, the Aggtelek caves, should also help steer tourists toward the village. While it is true that some of the motifs in the frescoes edge toward kitsch – brides in white, horses, angelic beings and other familiar imagery from Romani “naïve” art – it may also be true that a dash of kitsch is an essential ingredient in any grassroots tourism scheme that hopes to make money.
November 22nd, 2012
4 Comments at "Hungarian Village Puts Faith in Frescoes"
Off-topic, but why can’t East of Center content be found back by country? So you can instantly check what the latest stories about Hungary are?
Can’t be hard – you use tags for topics (media, law & order, arts & culture), why not for countries too?
Although it is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so if Mr. Krauthamer regards Zoran Tairovic’s work, The Metamorphoses of Horsepower, “kitsch”, he may express his own sentiment and so far that is okay. But let me beg to differ. My interpretation of the mural is very different; the racing car has not been added, it is an organic part of the picture which presents a metaphysical connection between the horse, the point of origin, and the car and all it represents – and those that have been left behind and are excluded. If he failed to notice the reproach in the eyes of the central figure, the powerless maternal defense in the blue angel, the vulnerability of youth in the naked figure – and the dismal fate of the beautiful, pure Roma bride, that is his problem. Let others not be discouraged by him.
Dear Sir,
I have a question for You. Do you, when You writing about a video clip
in Bodvalenke, do You talk about kitsch as a motive or the seco
itself. I agree, motives were from life of Roma. But, the fresco of
Zoran Tairovic is kitsch? I would not agree….
http://www.zorantairovic.com
Thanks to both of you for your comments. Note that regardless of the quality of the frescoes – and they vary quite a bit – I said that some of the artwork in Bódvalenke is quite beautiful and that I hope it will attract visitors. It would be great to see this project inspire other out-of-the-mainstream ideas elsewhere.
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