LINE UP!

This work was created during my Erasmus semester at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava.

The series brings together the memory of two historical events that both took place in 1866. The first is the Battle of Lamač, the final battle of the Austro-Prussian War, fought on 22 July 1866. Lamač is the smallest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, lying in the northern part of the city. Today, its annual historical reenactment has become one of the region's most important cultural events, attracting large numbers of visitors and transforming the battlefield into a site of public commemoration and celebration.

The second story focuses on the history of telephone operators, whose legacy is preserved today in the collection of the Budapest Postal Museum, alongside many other important objects related to the history of telecommunications. At the International Telegraph Conference held in Geneva between 3 and 8 September 1866, women were officially recognized as eligible for skilled professional work. Operating telephone switchboards soon became one of the few technical occupations open to women during the late nineteenth century and eventually developed into a predominantly female profession.

By bringing these two seemingly unrelated histories into dialogue, the series reflects on the different ways societies remember the past. While war created divisions by drawing borders and separating people, the work of telephone operators—an occupation no longer confined to domestic labor or defined by assisting men—enabled communication, maintained connections, and brought people together. Through the juxtaposition of these two historical narratives, the series invites viewers to reconsider the significance these events hold today and how they continue to shape our collective memory.

2018