top of page
  • Writer's picture Kester Eddy

An Especially Brutal Sculpture - Budapest - KesterTester 16

Updated: Dec 6, 2020

This piece, from what might be termed the mid-Kádár era, is now in the "Statue Park" - But where was it originally, and what does it commemorate? Photo from c 1992

It is striking in one way, I suppose. I mean, to my mind, it's brutal and terrifying, and if that is what the artist intended, it's a success. Only to a point, though: I suspect many visitors to what is usually called the 'Statue Park" probably fail to really remember this piece, unless they are somehow linked to its original purpose.


(NB, officially, it's called the Momento Park - https://www.mementopark.hu/ - sadly closed in these pandemic days).


I suppose it was moved from the location where this piccie was taken quite soon afterwards, so you would have to have be an old-timer ex-pat - and a mid-timer local - to have seen this in place. I won't give any more clues. Answer next week after you've had your turn. (Answer is now up under KT17.)


As for KT15 last week - it did prove rather too easy for the eagle-eyed among you. I think Mark Bownas swooped with the correct answer within five minutes of publication - although he had some doubts as he didn't recognise the buildings on the river bank.

.

Indeed, I brilliantly chose my spot for this photo so as to make it look an industrial city rather than the tourist mecca it had become pre-Covid - just to try to fool you.


(OK, ok, I admit it: that last sentence is a total fabrication. In truth, that's by chance. I chose the spot based on my ability to put some out-of-focus leaves in the 'sky' and make the picture look a bit different from the 'straight' shot. And maybe also to cut out some of the bright sunshine, as this is looking south, in summer, in daytime. )


Nonetheless, I was surprised when I noted the number of chimneys in the print. I have a suspicion that the nearest one, just to the right of centre, is the Staropramen Brewery - but maybe a local could confirm or correct me on that.


The piccie was taken (as I remember) using a 200 mm lens from a piece of parkland somewhere near Malostranská tram stops, leading up to the castle district of Prague, and the bridge in the foreground, as several of you pointed out, is the famous (and rather splendid) Karlův Most, or Charles Bridge.


Consolation prizes (they just have to buy me one beer) must go to David Kirkby (who, it is true, has missed out marginally on several previous KesterTesters) and David McCall, who claims his time-zone disadvantage is a heavy handicap. (Well, you don't have to live in Oregon, David. Just tell the wife you need to move back to Europe to compete more effectively in the prestigious KesterTester competition - I'm sure she'll understand :) )


Irena G was another who sent in the correct answer - but as she lives there, that's just for the glory of letting us know.


OK, I'll leave you to ponder the bronze (as I suppose it is) above. Have a good weekend!




117 views1 comment
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page