{"id":27658,"date":"2023-10-12T13:33:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T11:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/"},"modified":"2023-10-12T13:35:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T11:35:52","slug":"pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu","status":"publish","type":"blogposts","link":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/","title":{"rendered":"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"

2016
video, 15\u201901\u201d
photo, 60 \u00d7 40 cm, 360 \u00d7 222 cm
Istv\u00e1n Szab\u00f3: Demolition of a Monument, 20 March 1990<\/em> (detail)
Collection of M\u00e9liusz Juh\u00e1sz P\u00e9ter Library, Local History Collection and the Collection of Photo Archive<\/p>

\u201cI grew up not far from this place, and as a child, I often asked my mother to come here, because there was a statue here I loved. The work was unveiled in 1961, and for almost thirty years\u2014until 20 March, 1990, to be precise\u2014\u2019blocked out\u2019 the main building of the university. The former monument stood on what is now an empty traffic island: Istv\u00e1n Kiss\u2019s Proletarian was a six-metre tall bronze statue on a three-metre tall base, and defined the structure of this space, as well as the view that unfolded. (…) The way I get to grips with a problem is always complex, and this is true of both the media used and of the approach to the given subject. I consider it important for my works to speak to many people, whether owing to the ideas they embody or their visual appeal. In the current case the starting point was a personal memory, a visual sign in public space, which may be a memory with others as well who live in Debrecen. Of course, the message that a public statue is the vehicle of is broader than that of its aesthetic form and presence, because it is the dense symbol of a period in history or politics. (…) The 1989 political transition, however, sealed the fate of the statue, which was removed from the square. I delved into the history of the statue by consulting visual and textual archives: I got hold, for instance, of a contemporary newsreel about the unveiling, and a television news item on the removal. I was interested in the appearance and meaning of the artwork, but the most pronounced strand in my work was throwing light on the process and workings of remembering.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> PSzP<\/strong><\/p>

P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3\u2019s photograph and video documentary entitled Monument<\/em> deals with a well-known, 6 metre high bronze statue on a 3 metre high architectural structure in Debrecen and with its history. The Proletariat <\/em>(Monument to the Soviet Republic<\/em>) by Istv\u00e1n Kiss, was inaugurated on 20 March 1961 on what is now known as King Louis the Great Square (formerly known as 21 March Square) on the occasion of the 600th <\/sup>anniversary of Debrecen\u2019s declaration as a \u2019mez\u0151v\u00e1ros\u2019 (market town), and was a dominant feature of the city for almost thirty years until 20 March 1990.<\/p>

After the demolition of the sculpture he documented the stump as an element of the changing city. In 2016, the recollection of the brutal process of the monument\u2019s removal inspired the re-enactment of the figure of the emblematic statue. Different generations have different meanings and experiences of the material, symbolic, or even directly political or propaganda memories\/monuments and buildings of the past regime. Pettendi Szab\u00f3 has been influenced by the sculpture since his childhood\u2014as he grew up not far from it\u2014it has been a defining point of orientation and visual reference for him.<\/p>

The evocation of a monument that has been de-legitimized after the regime change is a translational process, i.e. a context-changing operation. Personal memories and archival recordings are fused and embodied in the performative event of re-enactment, through the artist and through the artist\u2019s gestures, thus the \u2018body\u2019 of the public symbol, originally of noble sculptural material, becomes a virtuously revived memento. However, it is questionable how far this recontextualization is able to dissolve and subvert the sedimented layers of meaning of the ideologically charged public sculpture, which undoubtedly has fine art qualities.<\/p>

In doing so, it allows us to relate to the correlations between urban space and collective memory and it deals with the issues of the relationship between personal historical experience and the public sphere.<\/p>

[1]<\/sup><\/a>    Pettendi Szab\u00f3, P\u00e9ter: Thinking about remembrance<\/em>, interview with Peter Szab\u00f3 Pettendi, interviewer: J\u00e1nos \u00c1fra, in: Uhl, Gabriella \u2013 \u00c1fra, J\u00e1nos: Imprinting<\/em>, International Artist in Residence of Debrecen, MODEM, 2016, pp. 51\u201353.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-27658","blogposts","type-blogposts","status-publish","hentry","col-md-4 col-sm-6"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nP\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2016video, 15\u201901\u201dphoto, 60 \u00d7 40 cm, 360 \u00d7 222 cmIstv\u00e1n Szab\u00f3: Demolition of a Monument, 20 March 1990 (detail)Collection of M\u00e9liusz Juh\u00e1sz P\u00e9ter Library, Local History Collection and the Collection of Photo Archive \u201cI grew up not far from this place, and as a child, I often asked my mother to come here, because there…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modemart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/hu-hu.facebook.com\/modemdebrecen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-12T11:35:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/\",\"name\":\"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-12T11:33:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-12T11:35:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog bejegyz\u00e9sek\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/blogposts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/\",\"name\":\"Modemart\",\"description\":\"Center for Modern and Contemporary Art\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Modemart\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/modemlogo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/modemlogo.png\",\"width\":260,\"height\":136,\"caption\":\"Modemart\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/hu-hu.facebook.com\/modemdebrecen\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart","og_description":"2016video, 15\u201901\u201dphoto, 60 \u00d7 40 cm, 360 \u00d7 222 cmIstv\u00e1n Szab\u00f3: Demolition of a Monument, 20 March 1990 (detail)Collection of M\u00e9liusz Juh\u00e1sz P\u00e9ter Library, Local History Collection and the Collection of Photo Archive \u201cI grew up not far from this place, and as a child, I often asked my mother to come here, because there…","og_url":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/","og_site_name":"Modemart","article_publisher":"https:\/\/hu-hu.facebook.com\/modemdebrecen\/","article_modified_time":"2023-10-12T11:35:52+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/","url":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/","name":"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument – Modemart","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-12T11:33:51+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-12T11:35:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/blogposts\/pettendi-szabo-peter-emlekmu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog bejegyz\u00e9sek","item":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/blogposts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"P\u00e9ter Pettendi Szab\u00f3: Monument"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/","name":"Modemart","description":"Center for Modern and Contemporary Art","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#organization","name":"Modemart","url":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/modemlogo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/modemlogo.png","width":260,"height":136,"caption":"Modemart"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/hu-hu.facebook.com\/modemdebrecen\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blogposts\/27658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blogposts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blogposts"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modemart.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}