According to Krisztina Baranyi, the letter is a barely-concealed threat, and the street names only express solidarity with the persecuted and stand for universal human rights.Continue reading
‘Bajza utca’ metro station of the Metro line 1, which is the closest station to the Russian embassy in Budapest, has been symbolically renamed “Ukraine” by a group of artists.
Civil group ARC, the organizers of the annual ARC street art exhibition, first reported the change. They write that a group of Budapest artists, dubbed ‘Hungarian artists for Ukraine,’ wished to join the ‘Stand with Ukraine initiative,’ and a similar action in Paris, France, which has been renaming public places in protest against the Russian aggression.
The group said that their goal was to commemorate the suffering and devastation of Ukrainians and to pay tribute to the victims of the war.
In addition to redrawing the signs at the station, a petition was also launched pushing for an official name change.
In his reaction, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote that he knew about the action and ensured the artists that the Budapest Municipality’s employees wouldn’t take it down while the conflict still rages.
However, the employees of the Budapest Transport Company (BKV) were seen removing not only the sticker from the sign but also the Bajza street sign itself.
featured image via ARC- Facebook