• 1

    Ursula K. Le Guin, Dancing at the Edge of the World. Thoughts on Words, Women, Places (New York: Grove Press, 1989), 85-89.

  • 2

    Sanjay Sethi et al, »Systematic Suppression. Hungary’s Art and Culture in Crisis,« Artistic Freedom Initiative, published March 14, 2022.

  • 3

    It reminds me of 10 years ago when the main targets of the government’s culture war were the city’s museums. For more on this, see Edit András, »Hungary in Focus: Conservative Politics and Its Impact on the Arts. A Forum,« Artmargins, published September 17, 2013.

  • 4

    The venue has since relocated to a different area. See, https://www.instagram.com/durer_kert/?hl=hu.

  • 5

    See »Viktor Orbán’s speech at the opening of the House of Hungarian Music,« posted January 22, 2022.

  • 6

    Krisztián Puskár, interview by Gyula Muskovics, January 18, 2023.

  • 7

    The word »államgépzene« that translates to »state machine music« in English, alludes to the »Something is rotten in the state of Denmark« scene in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet which in János Arany’s Hungarian translation appears as »Valami rohadt az államgépben« where »államgép« means »state machine.«

  • 8

    The party Tropacore was organized in the Tropicarium by the FamilyFast crew on July 9, 2022. See the aftermovie, https://www.instagram.com/p/CjnfjAwIM8g/.

  • 9

    See the members of the Pénz crew, https://soundcloud.com/penzkenyer.

  • 10

    Levente Juhász, founding member of Family Fast, interview by Gyula Muskovics, January 18, 2023.

  • 11

    Küss Mich was founded in 2008 by Krisztián Puskár (aka Splatter) and Gábor György (aka Gödrön). See, https://www.instagram.com/kussmichmich/.

  • 12

    For more on OMOH, see the short documentary titled Every Party Matters.

  • 13

    See OMOH’s break-up post, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjr6LrSIVXH/.

  • 14

    Persephone was initiated by DJs Alexandr and Klayman in 2018. More recently it is organised by experimental sound artist Yinna, and DJs Kali and Fr33skid.

  • 15

    Hakim Bey, T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism (The Anarchist Library, 1985), 97.

  • 16

    In the past few years, Hungary’s ruling party, Fidesz, has been carefully building a narrative against sexual minorities. In 2021, the Parliament passed the so-called »Anti-LGBT« law legislating the »promotion« of homosexuality and gender reassignment in education and in the media. However, it is still not entirely clear what this entails in practice and it hasn’t changed the atmosphere on the streets of Budapest where being queer is generally accepted.

  • 17

    For more on Davoria, see the documentary titled Davoria.

  • 18

    Hakim Bey, T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism (The Anarchist Library, 1985), 95.

  • 19

    See, https://borsoslorinc.com/about.

  • 20

    See, https://balloontooth.gallery/chapter5.html.

  • 21

    Exhibiting artists: Szilvia Bolla, Lőrinc Borsos, Hollow, Dániel Kophelyi, Ppillovv, Adrian Kiss, Erik Mátrai, Márton Emil Tóth. For images see, https://borsoslorinc.com/works/mine-my-mind.

  • 22

    The Pénz crew co-hosted this party with SiCk CrEw from Berlin and Suck Puck Records from Odesa on March 24, 2023.

  • 23

    There were two »Great Disappointment« parties, in 2018 and in 2019. Both took place between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and were the first of such larger-scale events at the AQB. See the website of Lőrinc Borsos for more information about their events.

  • 24

    They curated the event as members of another collective called The Corporation.

  • 25

    See the exhibition’s website for more information, https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/kul/liv/tec.html.

  • 26

    The exhibition’s closing event, »Ending Techno Worlds« was a 12 hour-long multidisciplinary art event that involved visual and performance artists, housing art installations in various parts of the building and staging 14 live sets. For more information, see the Facebook event, https://www.facebook.com/events/4207408879384517.

  • 27

    The Corporation is a multidisciplinary artist collective formed in 2000 by János Borsos, Lilla Lőrinc, Erik Mátrai, Gábor Szenteleki, and Gergely Papp. They often collaborate with other artists and collectives to realise events on the frontiers of techno in an attempt to create temporary autonomous zones.

  • 28

    Technologie und das Unheimliche (T+U) is a Berlin-Budapest art collective initiated by Márk Fridvalszki, Zsolt Miklósvölgyi, and Márió Z. Nemes. Through art exhibitions, thematic modules, and related projects, T+U mediates between artistic research, post-digital printing, and para-academic discourses.

  • 29

    See, https://insecurity-state.tumblr.com/description.

  • 30

    André Lepecki, Choreopolice and Choreopolitics – or, the task of the dancer. TDR: The Drama Review, Volume 57, Number 4, Winter 2013 (T220), pp. 13-27.

  • 31

    See, for example, Bogomir Doringer’s exhibition project »Dance of Urgency« (2019, Q21, Vienna) in which the Serbian artist/curator investigated the role of dance in times of personal and collective crisis.

  • 32

    See Bo Hanna, »Armed police storm Georgian nightclubs leading to a rave outside Parliament,« Dazed Digital, posted May 13, 2018.

  • 33

    In the UK, for example, The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was an Act of the Parliament that, among other ways of restricting existing rights, prohibited illegal rave parties, which were described as gatherings where music is played, with music being defined as a »succession of repetitive beats.«

  • 34

    Hakim Bey, T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism (The Anarchist Library, 1985), 95.

  • 35

    A summary of the discussion in English was recently posted on Facebook by András Nun. Title of the event was »Sometimes they take it from you, sometimes they create a new one / Music venues, institutions and independent organisers in relation to each other and to power.«