Axe

The antecedent is well known. Mihály Kolodko, the guerrilla sculptor who became known primarily for his mini-statues in Budapest, placed his 20th work, titled (and shaped) Usánka, in the same place in November of 2019. Of course, the memento he erected near the Soviet Heroes' Monument gave rise to a lot of thought, although the theme, the unspoken message, can obviously be linked to the monument.

A few days later, a member of parliament knocked down the statue with an axe and threw it into the Danube. Since the Danube is not exactly in situ, vandalism committed out of sudden excitement can be ruled out. The day he did this was the memorial day of Hungarian political prisoners and forced labourers who were taken to the Soviet Union. I read now: he assessed that Usánka "was a symbol of a dictatorial system". According to his party's statement, "one Soviet occupation monument on Szabadság tér is too many". I silently note that this may be true, although one does not seem identical to the other – as far as I can see, they were not established under the same ideology.

The sculptor of Hungarian origin "hit back", and in the way expected of him. In place of the destroyed statue, he placed this axe, a so-called reaction statue. The mini-statue now formed is an axe (or "the" axe), which was placed on a shapely decorative cushion, just like its predecessor, the destroyed Usánka.