During the redesign of Farkas Street in the historical center of Cluj, a statue plinth disappeared. And it turned out to be a nationalistic time bomb.
They say that history is beautiful when it is happening. Well then, let's rejoice (although, as is usually the case, a citizen who experiences the events at any level is not very happy at this time): in addition to the fact that events of world-historical importance (war) are taking place right now, a geographically very local (meaning, Cluj) symbol has erupted but also an international affair.
It happened that the competent authorities of Cluj decided to redesign several historic central streets. The preparations have been completed, the work has begun, the machines are still rumbling, the workers are rushing around several central streets (when).
Perhaps the most iconic street of the treasured city, Farkas utca, also took its turn. And of course, there were discussions, the social network was nicely filled with disgruntled voices (why this way, why not that way, the street stones are already crumbling, etc.), as it always happens.
But then a big bomb exploded.
It turned out that the pedestal disappeared from under the sculpture group of the Transylvanian School located in the area between the Babeș Bolyai University (BBTE) and the building that (also) houses the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic. (Despite the fact that, according to the news, it was still included .) Moreover, legally, since every competent forum put the stamp on the plan that the owner is free, that is, the pedestal can go in the trash. I'm telling you, the bomb exploded, the opinions about the pedestal started to rain, mainly in the local Romanian press and, of course, on social networks.
I also wrote an opinion piece on the matter. I argued why it was wrong to sweep the pedestal out from under the group of statues. I mentioned what would happen if I did that, the same thing would happen with the Matthias statue group. I also received feedback on this, saying that the pedestal of the Ladea sculpture group was not designed by Mr. Ladea at the time, but by someone else. But a certain Adriana Matei. Okay, I can only say that the pedestal of the Matthias statue group was not designed by János Fadrusz either, but by someone else. A certain Lajos Pákei.
The statue debate turned nasty in a matter of days.
So much so that the judge in Cluj-Napoca thought it better to go to the scene... then he announced that he understood the problem, there would be some kind of pedestal there... and later, just as I was writing this text, he posted on Facebook that haha , designers, return everything, pedestal, Emil Racoviță statue, and in other respects, respect symbols, historical monuments and yes, respect each other's culture.
The entire article from Foter.ro can be read here.
Author: János Szántai
Image: Foter.ro
