NOTES FROM AWAY – 1
Spring in Budapest

 

Exactly three weeks ago we arrived in Budapest and true to my word, I’m starting up this blog again, putting thought and experience to word, sharing images of place and time, of art and politics, of life in this crazed yet compelling world we call home, and in my own psyche. I keep adding to this post as world and personal events keep shifiting – hard to keep up in real-time.

So here’s my first post; titled and numbered, implying a commitment of more to come, ready to report from this end of the world, as I watch with shared disbelief what’s going on at home and elsewhere. It’s not going to be easy to describe overlapping yet unique manifestations of realities – will probably be hard to strike a balance describing place, pleasure and hard truth, but I’ll do my best, reactivating a long dormant public voice for the benefit of friends, family and colleagues who might be curious as to what’s going on here in my life, my beloved Budapest, in Central Europe, in the world at large.

 

BUDAPEST! Settling into an early spring with see-sawing temperatures. Arrived on March 20th after a remarkably easy trip, having slipped  across the Vermont border into Canada the day before by taxi. We flew out of Montreal; relaxed, friendly and lightly-policed, it was the closest airport to our new home in the Burlington area. No perceived anti-American sentiment – we’ll see what reception we get at the end of May on our return.

After changing in Munich where we just happened to meet up with some very nice people from Essex, Vermont, we arrived at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc airport at noon, where we had our first  surprise. We always bought three-month Budapest Transportation passes at the kiosk right there in the airport lobby. Seniors ride for free, but that generous perk had always been limited to Hungarians and other EU citizens. It’s a wonderful system at a fair price and being great believers in public transportation, we always paid willingly for our passes.

This time when the the young guy at the counter looked at our IDs, he said we were in for a pleasant surprise – the law had changed and now anyone over 65 could use the transportation system for free, “didn’t matter if we came from the moon”! All we needed was a driver’s license or passport. So we put away our forints and proceeded with our luggage to the Minibus kiosk, where, chatting in our somewhat sleepy Hungarian, we arranged our round trip ride to and from our flat.

A half-hour later, the van dropped us off at Berkocsis utca; we climbed the two tall flights of stairs to our small two-room courtyard flat and got busy unpacking and opening things up. It’s been over two years since we’ve been here (the big Vermont flood of ’23 and our subsequent move kept us away). After struggling a bit to get the gas convector up and working, and eventually remembering how to restart the Wifi, we picked up a few odds and ends at “Manna”, the corner store and had our first supper – left-over Vermont cheese sandwiches from the trip, grilled in butter.

 

The next few days we started taking note of upcoming art events, had breakfast at the Csiga Cafe around the corner, lunch at the Auróra Ház; torta and kavé at the Kristály cukrászda, and connected with friends.

 

Did some basic shopping at the huge Vásárcsarnok a bit further down the street on Rákóczi tér. At various stands and stalls we picked up vegetables and fruits, sauerkraut and pickles from huge tubs, local honey, and eggs – the price for a carton of ten by the way, is an enviable $2.90. Went to the nearby Dubai middle eastern grocery store and got halvah and tahini from Lebanon and dates from Iran, all at low prices unheard of at home. No tariffs here! German crackers and echinacea drops, French camembert and Dutch Maasdammer, miso from Taiwan and tomato paste from Poland. Then locally produced rye breads and croissants, tofu, rice cakes, juice and beer. We were all set.

 

 

One week into our stay, long-time friend and artist Előd Nagy came to visit. Ilus, our dear friend and Előd’s wife, recently passed away. She is sorely missed. Előd is finding strength in his family and in his work. He’s returning to his studio work and came to draw me in preparation for making an erme, or small metal cast relief, a medium of sculpture very much explored here by many artists. Here he is, sketching as I sit. More of his paintings can be seen HERE

 

Then mid-week, we visited the home and studio of two more long-time artist friends, Albert Kováts and Katalin Kelemen. 

Albert, a painter and mixed media artist was the head of the Society of Hungarian Painters (Magyar Festők Társasága) for many years. We visited Albert and Kata in their art-filled home, looking at Albert’s new work, talking about his upcoming show, and the politics in Hungary. Albert gave me signed copies of two art books he’d recently written and a new catalog of his work. He’s preparing for a solo exhibition which opens on April 16th at the Museum Hotel Gallery. Kata is a textile artist, who has two of her works in a recent group exhibition at the Nador Gallery, founded by the Society of Downtown Artists in Budapest’s City Center. Albert’s work can be seen HERE and Kata’s work HERE

 

Had a couple of dates with my favorite oral surgeon for a new crown as well as to address some new toothache.
Then alas, I caught one of the nasty euro-viruses going around; now day 12 for me, went to the doctor yesterday, got some antibiotics to help put an end to the bronchitis. Meanwhile, lots of tea, rest and hovering over a pot of boiling water! Already missed hearing an excellent classical concert at the Budapest Music Center library with friends: Haydn, Kurtag and Schumann. I’ll have to be done with this soon – too many art openings and other goings on next week to be held back by a cold!

 

Meanwhile, Orban hosts Netanyahu who then moves on to visit Trump; Trump wreaks havoc at home, in Gaza and in Europe; Putin continues his assault on Ukraine …. crazy times everywhere! There was a huge street protest here in Budapest the day we arrived in response to Parliament voting to ban the very popular annual Pride Parade which we hear will go on anyway.  Some alternative parties protested with colored smoke bombs inside the Parliament as well. More demonstrations will take place this weekend. “First they came for…”

Simultaneously, been keeping an eye on coverage of the recent HANDS OFF national demonstrations back home. We sat with phones in hand, watching live reports of the enormous crowds around the country and back in Vermont; receiving posts, updates and photos from friends and family who took part. Looks like a real beginning, not a moment too soon with the way things are going. Although some HANDS OFF events took place across Europe as well, there were none to my knowledge in Budapest. In digital solidarity, I re-posted and shared a recent graphic of mine. Feel free to re-post and share appropriately!

 

I’ve started working again in my studio. Here’s a new set of pieces, spinning off my ‘21st Century 6,7,8,9‘ pieces recently shown in Group Show # 65 at the Front Gallery in Montpelier, Vermont.

And here’s the earlier work:

The new quadriptych, A Világok világa / World of Worlds, was just completed in my Budapest studio and accepted by jurors for the Society of Hungarian Painters’ upcoming spring group exhibition at the Etyeki Workshop Gallery. Was so consumed by recent events at home and our impending departure that I missed the emailed invitation entirely, only being informed of the looming submission deadline by a kind reminder from the MFT. Did it in a couple of days, following the thread of what I’ve been working on back in Vermont… unfolding and gessoing all the paper bags holding our sandwiches for the trip! I ran out to the nearby art supply store and bought some fresh gesso – happened to be Ukrainian-made.

Next I’ll frame the new work, borrowing a frame from my friend Ambrus Göncsi, director of the Ferencvárosi helytörténeti gyűjtemény, the 9th district historical museum where I had my 2022 solo exhibition: World as Collage & Further Extrapolations and my 2017 solo exhibit: Diane Sophrin: New Works and Free Associations – Dialogs with Attila Jozsef

 

What else has been going on here? With a bit of a shock we learned that the entire electrical system here at Berkocsis utca 12-14 is going to be redone and upgraded!Began the day we learned of it (guess we just missed the email announcements) and is now well under way!

Spent most of the first day without electricity, enduring some dusty, noisy work outside our windows in the courtyard before deciding we’d had enough and headed out to the Csiga for their lunch fixed menu, rántott (breaded fried) camembert with strawberry jam, a side order of fries and green tea with honey for my throat. That offered some consolation as we ate, hung out and re-charged our phones. Hoping that although the work is slated to continue for the duration of our stay, it will continue to be in well-organized stages as it as been so far. 

 

Finally, I’ll end with a poem just finished:

RED SKIES AND THE PRICE OF EGGS

Here eggs are cheap
and life blurs as
friends rise ascendant as
the future clouds our red skies

thunder rumbling overhead
and the price of life are potent topics
for a daily blog and surely
communication is empowerment

or is it merely a source
of meager consolation
in such lonesome times
of gasping disbelief

clamour in unison
courage in righteousness
never forget
the good fight.

– Diane Sophrin
  Budapest (4.5.25)

You can find it, along with over a decade of my other poems, on the Present Continuous – Poems and Other Writings page of this site.

 

Next post: Opening at the Artus Studio, in memorium of my dear friend Orban Gyuri, publisher and bookstore owner, etc.!

 

– And for the moment, that’s it from Budapest!  
  Diane (4.11.25)