CONTRALODESCONOCIDO COMPANY III

April 24 – May 31, 2015

Organiser: Tímea Oravecz

Ancient commerce produced cultural exchanges between distant continents, peoples, and diverse cultures, contributing to the development of humanity. Unfortunately, in modern times, commerce has lost this positive aspect. Industrial and impersonal products arrive daily from all parts of the world with such ease and speed that they completely lose their originality. We no longer wonder about the origin or the history of the bought product. We also lack the will and the taste necessary to appreciate its cultural value. Over these past years, my travel experiences have continuously brought me to different places. I have received and left behind many used objects (wardrobes, beds, tables, lamps, pots, clothes etc.). I have considered thepossibility of meeting the previous owner, to know, for example, how that black stain got on the racket that I sport, as if I was the one who stained it. Every small mark on these objects has a story, an episode in the life of aperson who I could meet and get to know.

For this reason I imagined a store where it would be possible to find a card on every used article, baring the photograph and personal information of the person to whom it previously belonged, in order to potentially contact them.

“Contralodesconocido Company” is a trademark which takes advantage, with coherence, of the same slogans which major commercial companies use, for example: “denim makes people to come together to have a fun andexplore the whole world.”

The project intends to create a social market, which places attention on people and their stories through an articleof clothing or object. It consists of a symbolic utopic market, without money, where people can meet each otherand socialize, in order to create a multicultural panorama– a space to know, communicate, understand and accept.

The project is free and open for everybody during the hairdresser salon regulary opening time.

Venue: Haj–Sokk Fodrász Szalon (1054 Budapest, Steindl Imre u. 7.)

The project is generous supported by: Haj–Sokk Fodrász Szalon, Bálintház