The Birth of Venus and Other Stories
The Birth of Venus and Other Stories is a long-term documentary project examining life after the demolition of the Dzsumbuj housing estate in Budapest, once one of the city's most stigmatized social housing complexes. Rather than reconstructing the history of the settlement itself, the project follows the lives of former residents after their relocation, asking what happens when a community disappears but its members remain dispersed across the city. Through photography, interviews, moving image, and sculptural objects, the work challenges media narratives that reduced Dzsumbuj to a symbol of poverty and social deviance, instead foregrounding the complexity of individual lives.
At the centre of the project is Venus, a former resident whose search for employment becomes a journey through Budapest. For one year I accompanied her as she applied for jobs in more than fifty workplaces across the city, following her search not simply for employment but for the stability, dignity, and sense of security that work can provide. Through her experiences, Budapest emerges as a social landscape in which access to opportunity is shaped by class, prejudice, chance, and perseverance.
Surrounding this narrative is a constellation of interconnected works. Moving Box presents portraits of former residents photographed on the empty grounds where the housing blocks once stood, accompanied by excerpts from life-history interviews reflecting on moving out and rebuilding their lives. The video installation Three Houses addresses the fragile nature of relocation by tracing the repeated cycles of displacement experienced by families who were unable to secure permanent housing after the demolition. Grinder transforms the story of a family whose rehousing resulted in unmanageable electricity costs into a sculptural lamp, revealing how seemingly technical decisions can profoundly shape everyday life. Together, these works map the long-term consequences of displacement through personal testimony, material traces, and urban space.
Developed in dialogue with sociologists, anthropologists, and former residents, The Birth of Venus and Other Stories approaches documentary practice as a form of collaboration. By weaving together individual memories and everyday experiences, the project constructs an alternative social history of Budapest—one in which the consequences of urban policy are understood through the lived experiences of the people most directly affected by it.
