Mentoring campaigners
In 2019, I worked with the team of The Association of Independent Performing Arts (Független Előadó-művészeti Szövetség, FESZ) as mentor. Winning a grant to build a national-level campaign, FESZ had the opportunity to dedicate time and allocate funds to developing their project about the misuse of power at workplaces. The mentor program consisted of three main elements: re-branding the project called “Why did they go there?”, campaign design, and trainings on community organizing practices.
FESZ organise and advocate for independent performing arts in a really hostile environment. Cultural actors are under constant pressure, legislative changes tighten control over the institutions, and any artistic or cultural work is deliberately politicised. PM Orbán announced after his third re-election that culture needed to be synchronized with the politics of the day, although the first manifestations of this culture war (Kulturkampf) date back to 2010. The Ministry of Human Capacities try to implement their “value-driven” approach through allocating funds, and the governing principles resemble the cultural policy of the post-communist Kádár era.
FESZ thematised the discourse about the international #metoo movement’s effects in Hungarian theatres. The narrative and the methodology constantly developed as the Association worked with advocacy experts and started to build up its own campaign. In order to bust myths concerning sexual misconduct and to show that theatre is only one of the workplaces where power relations protect predators, the first campaign launched in 2017 was developed into a policy amendment proposal by the first anniversary of #metoo. The team applied for a Campaign Service grant in 2018 to develop campaigns for a national-level policy change and to mobilise for women’s rights in Hungary. The success of the “Time’s Up” movement was a model for the campaigners, but this issue did not activate stakeholders either in the governmental or in the private sector in Hungary – unlike in the US, in Germany, or in the UK. The Hungarian government is explicitly against the ratification of the Istanbul Treaty, and women’s advocacy organisations are classified as dissent voices.
“Why did they go there?” was a counter-narrative designed to break related taboos and to provide a brave repost to those who blamed the victims, but it was limited to mainly reflecting on and reacting to sceptic mainstream voices. For the launch in 2019, we wanted to find a general term, which can express openness, prevention, protection, and an inclusive way of thinking. The current title “Safe Spaces” is the adaptation of a campaign launched by the British Equity, the union of performers and creative practitioners in the UK. FESZ started to inform and mobilise its members and member organisations in November 2019. The Association organised a conference for the 24th November to launch the campaign. The aHang platform supported the kick-off by setting up the website ahang.hu/biztonsagosterek. More than 20 theatres joined the campaign, and almost 50 participants from schools and institutions attended the kick-off conference. The campaign aims at the ratification of the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment in Hungary, which could provide a clear framework for action guaranteeing the right for everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment.
Read more about the project in Hungarian:
The Association of Independent Performing Arts http://fesz.org/
Statement about Safe Spaces signed by more than 20 independent Hungarian theatre companies: https://ahang.hu/biztonsagosterek/
The group of Hungarian Mothers (Magyar Anyák), founded in 2018, tries to find ways to enhance resilience in Hungary. One of their first campaigns was the rebellious toys that reacted to current public affairs with their own messages and symbolically joined demonstrations. [1] I have been the mentor of the group since early 2019.
The legal definition of a family is regulated in Hungary by the Fundamental Law as the marriage of a man and a woman who have children. Reigning politicians are forcing a particular set of values called Christian democracy on people, and the government’s macho, populist rhetoric puts an intensifying pressure on women. Moreover, the situation has worsened since 2018. Decision makers talk about raising children as an “obligation” of citizens. “Having children is a public matter, not a private one. It’s not an individual obligation but a social and demographic necessity.” [2]
In February 2019, the group started a campaign, which addressed the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital. Parents had to pay for spending the night with their ill children, but in return the hospital could not provide basic accommodation facilities (like a spare bed). The messages went viral (500K outreach on social media) in less than 72 hours, and the group started a petition at the szabad.ahang.hu platform to collect signatures. They asked for beds and free accommodation to all parents in the children’s hospital.
The Hungarian Mothers co-operated with several parents’ groups and other initiatives that were active in advocating for better conditions in Hungarian health care. Besides the online communication campaign, the activists organised a performance in front of the hospital [3]. As soon as the petition reached its first threshold, the Hungarian Mothers asked for a personal interview with the director of the hospital to hand over their demands and the more than 5000 signatures of their supporters, which were gathered during the campaign.
Raising awareness about one particular case has drawn attention to the poor conditions in other hospitals, too. The initiative received beds as donation. The Heim Pál Hospital refused to use the donated beds, but other hospitals were ready to cooperate.
More about family policies in Hungary in English:
Challenging Orbán’s echo chamber by Viktória Serdült published in Big noise by Index on Censorship.
Check out more campaigns in the News section »
