Vörös István
1964-ben született, két gyereke és 13 verseskötete van, ír prózát, drámát, tanulmányt, csehből (és néha németből, angolból) fordít. A Pázmány Péter Katolikus egyetem docense. Füst Milán-díjas, József Attila-díjas, 2004-ben a Tokaji Írótábor díját kapta. Legutóbbi kötetei: Švejk gyóntatója (Jelenkor Kiadó, 2007), A Vörös István gép vándorévei (Jelenkor Kiadó, 2009), Apám kakasa (Lackfi Jánossal, Noran 2004 Kiadó, 2009). Ördögszáj (Napkút, 2010), Keresztelés özönvízzel (Noran Könyvesház, 2011), A Kant utca végén (P'Art Könyvek, 2011), Fénylovasok (Noran Könyvesház, 2012).LAPUNKBAN MÉG »
SPN könyvek ajánló
Vörös István
Inaugural Address: Contagion
Translated by Ottilie Mulzet
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Are values contagious, that is the next one.
Or does the brain, heart, and soul of a person
resist? And if it resists, why does this resistance
have to be conquered?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Everything that we do contaminates posterity.
We care about the future, so then should we send them
a wise message? They’ll have their own problems,
all of that was bestowed by us.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
And this too: how have we been contaminted by
the past. Do we like to look at pictures? Pictures
at an exhibition, in the museum, in the Uffizi,
in the Prado or the Louvre?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
From the past and the past continous we received
new machines, and now I’m looking at pictures
on my computer, but I’m afraid of that it
may be infected by a virus. There’s an epidemic.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Once in Europe there was the Spanish flu,
like the dog market in Buda, the Devil’s party
in Moscow, the skull collection in Paris,
Švejk’s dog pound.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Are values contagious, that is the next one.
And if they aren’t, how can we
make them so. What should we add to them,
to make them effective? Something which is not a value?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Everything that we do contaminates posterity.
How can we smuggle just even a few values
into all of the damage we’re doing? Doesn’t this doom
values in and of itself? Won’t they be contaminated?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
How did the past contaminate us?
Luckily, we’ve done pretty well at resisting
their messages. King Mátyás asks in Miskolc: How many
Commandments were there? Five? Or not even that many?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
I look at pictures on the computer, I don’t know how big
they are, I don’t know how big I am, I don’t know what
message they should send, I dont even know – if someone were
to ask me – what message I should send to posterity.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Luckily there is no message. László Nagy said
to embrace your descendants if they will still have
a human face. Do you feel the gushing kiss of that gentle soul
of your faces? Didn’t you just catch influenza?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Are values contagious, that is the next one.
And if so, how does the contagion spread? Because it is certain
that not only the good things are infectious. But neither
are only the bad ones. Where is the culture-doctor?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Should we vaccinate the future? Vaccinate with values
against counter-values? But from the counter-values a counter-culture
will form, contagion, the culture of illness. This always begins as
an illness, always ends with the loss of health.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Where is the culture-doctor? The nurses and the care-givers
are the creators of the exhibition, the future itself is the army of viewers. Are
you afraid of the injection, or will the epidemic of the future strike
you down, the culture of the sick against that if the healthy?
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
We’ve had enough of the healthy. Let’s infect
the future with our own selves, infect ourselves with the future,
let us heal from the past, recover from the present. Let’s
get over learning, teaching, understanding and misunderstanding.
How should we contaminate posterity, that is the question.
Is this even a question? We survive by wanting
to infect the future with exhibitions, opening addresses,
with our own work: we possess only the present.
We possess the past, and so – I now open this exhibition.
(Speech given at the opening of the exhibition „Hapci" in Herman Ottó Múzeum−Miskolci Galéria 12nd February 2014.)
