DOME_LIVE 028 The Mysterious City Park

Created for the House of Music Sound Dome to mark the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Budapest, and with the cooperation of Animatiqua and the use of photos from Fortepan, the images-based film The Mysterious City Park forms a visual history of City Park, or Városliget, the Hungarian capital's main park, based on photos found in the Fortepan collection.

The past of the park and its surroundings will be brought to life through animated photos, giving us the chance to relive everyday life there and take a virtual walk with famous composers (Franz Liszt, Ferenc Erkel, Béla Bartók), scientists (Edward Teller, John von Neumann and Nikola Tesla), and the local residents of the era. The first and most extensive part of the 360° archive film will depict City Park's past until 1945, with a particular focus on the 1896 National Millennium Exhibition – thanks mainly to the photography of György Klösz – and related events, buildings that can no longer be seen today such as Industry Hall to the Regnum Marianum Church, and the contemporary appearance of the circus and zoo. As we stroll through the old park and move forward in time, through brief stories we will be able to see how, for example, Zoltán Kodály – who lived nearby at what is today known as Kodály körönd – walked across to his neighbouring park. From the second half of the century, the period atmosphere of the May 1st holidays at the park will be brought to life – and much else besides. In the final section, which brings us to the present-day, we finally see how the city is in a constant state of motion and transformation.