REFORM500 public installation
The greatest influence the Reformation had on the development of Hungarian culture – primarily through the translation of the New Testament by János Sylvester and the so-called ‘Károli Bible’ – was the expansion and enrichment of the Hungarian (literary) language. In order to illustrate the scope of this influence, we decided to remove 95 stones from the pavement of Kálvin square and replace them with custom-manufactured fine concrete blocks. Each slab contains two quotations: one by a significant early reformer (e.g. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melanchthon et al.), and one by a Hungarian author, connected in one way or another to the Reformation – in case of the latter, the aim was to represent the wealth and diversity of the last 500 years including contemporary writers. It is an essential component of the installation that replicas of all 95 stones could be adopted via the reform500.hu website throughout the memorial year. The stones found new homes in public institutions and protestant congregations, completing the extension of the installation to the entire Hungarian linguistic community.