I must confess it has been far too long without outreach, gathering, or community activity for MADOKE Friends. I'm looking to change that and have had an idea about how to make things more active. Bear with me as I share some thoughts.
In other times and in other cities, cafe life was part of the cultural fabric, and this was not planned socialization, but the natural overlap of people’s everyday lives.
In Paris of the 1870s, the Impressionists gathered at whatever cafe had a reputation for attracting artists, writers, and intellectuals. Berlin in the 20s. New York in the 50s and 60s. Budapest in the 00s.
When I lived here before, you could find that vitality in the original Szimpla Kert (if you know, you know). When in doubt, you would go there and find people.
Now is a beautiful time in Budapest, and I would like to model gatherings after these magical little moments in time. So the experiment I have in mind is to announce to the group when a simple cafe meeting is happening, or a sit in the park with a bottle of wine, or a dinner, or a movie night. All small to medium scale, perfectly acceptable if shared by two people or ten.
Planned events are great, but logistics create friction and sometimes get in the way of regular gathering. So I would like to make a gathering more casual, customary, and habitual.
We are filmmakers first, but more broadly we are members of the artistic community, so unless otherwise noted I would love to have non-exclusive gatherings, where anyone is welcome. Your cousin is in town? Bring them. Your friend is a writer and has never touched a camera in their life? Bring them. Your partner tells great jokes. Bring them.
I don't think we will spark a new cafe era, but we can make this a summer to remember for the new friends we'll make over a cup of coffee or bottle of wine. Start there, keep it simple. When we have a reason to plan a more robust gathering, we can do it.
What does it look like in practice?
I was thinking I'd have a two-hour window every week (started by me or anyone) when I'd reserve a table at a cafe, or have a spot in a park if the weather is nice, and whoever comes, comes. Maybe we'll wind up with a regular location or three, to help build the "drop-in" vibe, but we can figure that out.
For now, that's it. It's just an idea and one that seemed worth putting into action to revive the MADOKE Friends dynamism.
Let me know what you think. I'd like to have a WhatsApp group for easy notifications, so if you'd like to be included, send me your WhatsApp number.