In July, a Street Art camp was held in Lengyeltóti, on the outskirts of the city, in a slum of 500 people, where many families and hundreds of children live in deprivation. The community programme included activities related to hip-hop culture, where renowned artists and social volunteers worked together to put on a multi-day event.

The Social Street Art Project draws attention to young people living in deprivation in slums and their potential through the power of the arts. The project was created in collaboration with the Társadalomklinika Civil Egyesület.

Volunteers from the Társadalomklinika have already organised various programmes, children's days and development sessions here on several occasions, so they are already familiar with most of the families.

Hope in the slums

The programmes have given a new voice to the local community in Lengyeltóti.

• Community mural painting with well-known street artists from around the country
• Live graffiti and murals
• rapping, freestyle, lyric writing all day with underground rappers
• Custom T-shirt making
• Making music together, playing music, shooting video clips with professional videographers
• Fire juggling performance
• Carousel, bouncy castle for the little ones (and the big ones)
• And of course dancing under the stars

The community programmes included development activities for young people using modern arts. The sessions included djing, community mural painting, lyric writing, rapping and music making from well-known contemporary artists.

The programmes were attended by hundreds of local people, from whom I quote: 

"We haven't had a community bonding event like this here for over twenty years".

The themes of the paintings were conceived together with the local community, using community development methods and involving local young people.

Artistic intervention in the spaces of exclusion

The artists house walls of deprived minority families were painted with the involvement of the local community.

Experiences and works by contributing artists:

Fat Heat 

"This mural was made in the slums of Lengyeltóti, with a greyish skull slowly disintegrating as the central element - and colourful flowers blossoming inside. It is entitled: "More than what they say." Its message is simple but important: it's not what they say about you on the outside that counts, but what you carry on the inside. Everyone is more than what you judge them to be."

Void 

"I had a great time during the 3 days. Everyone was very nice and very positive and helpful throughout the whole event. It was a pleasure to see the enthusiasm of the children in the workshops. Thank you to Bálint Székely for inviting me and to the locals for their hospitality!"

Renyagyár

"My painting was done in a segregated street in Lengyeltóti, in the yard of a family with ten children. The scene depicted symbolizes the family living here. Birds are flying around a sleeping girl, she dreams of them, ten birds, just as the children are ten. The bird as a symbol often appears in my paintings, borrowed from a gypsy tale, according to which gypsies used to wander freely as birds and then became human. Since then, they only feel the same freedom they used to feel when the music plays."

László Varga

"The first day I painted with a child. The concept was to paint a huge goat. I was quickly confronted with the children's affinity for abstract expressionism. 🙂 They were instinctive in their painting, it was great to see their enthusiasm. On Saturday, I painted at the very end of Cemetery Street. In the afternoon, a Mum asked me to paint her house wall too. I told her that unfortunately I couldn't do Spiderman and cars, but I could do very pretty roses. It was the most defining work of my life. I got emotional. When you create something and you feel that it's going to affect your whole life for a few hours...I was in the present, maybe that's called a miracle or a little epiphany..."

Enikő Váczy

"These four days have been an indescribable experience and a moving one. I painted the façade of a house of a family with ten children while also having the opportunity to listen to the life stories of the locals and connect with them. My mural depicts a woman (who the residents say looks like the children's mother)   character's head sprouts tendrils from which wolves leap out. It is a reminder to the inhabitants of the house of the forces that can move everything inside them. And the source of these forces is infinite. The feedback from the residents of the slum, both children and adults, is that the programme has been a community bonding and barrier-breaking force. For me it was a defining experience that made me look at the world differently. I am glad to have been part of it."

Réka Ferenczi

"What I loved most about this festival was how easily in a situation like this, the boundaries that we feel unspoken but a little bit unbreakable can blur - how easily a community can embrace you and feel like one if you go to talk and help selflessly. It helped me to see a little bit more into life situations that were very different from my own and to see the background in a different light. I received a lot of kindnesses, like bringing home a jar of good homemade jam, lunch invitations and cold drinks, and many many very kind words, from children and adults alike. I loved the dinner together, the free dancing on stage, the bonding to the music. I will go again next time."

Rob Anderson

"I believe one of the most valuable roles an artist can play is to be a good neighbour. When I first arrived in Lengyeltóti and met many like-minded artists, I could see a shared spirit of joy, hope and creativity sweep through the village. Children and families reflected this energy with open hearts. We all left changed, uplifted by the connection we had created together."

Full Powi & Komisz Derű

"We believe that by creating from the heart, it is possible to create an invisible bridge through which you can capture a little universal essence. This is what happened in this case with the children of the slum. We wish them to ride the high tide of their dreams towards a more colourful future. The idea for the painting was spontaneous, born a few minutes after befriending the bike-riding kids, and later ended the day with a repainting and some cheeky wheelies on their part."

Author's message:

“Remember that where souls are born is where they are most needed! Don't run away from problems that often manifest themselves through families and people around you. Face them and then alchemize and integrate them into yourself through deep self-awareness work, unlocking old outdated timelines that no longer serve the soul's development. You can then be part of a Universal Adventure where you become the creator of your own reality.”