EN The project of Elias Cafmeyer refers to the industrial history of Buda, which housed factories of many important industries. Imagining the area as an archaeological site and an attraction for tourists in the far future, the installation Au Coeur Vaillant Rien d’Impossible represents fictitious ruins of a factory that may have been located on the site. As Buda undergoes a process of transformation, Cafmeyer’s work alludes to the history that is embedded in the very soil upon which future residential and recreational infrastructure will be erected.

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The architectural design of the structure is influenced by the former Wanson company building, where industrial steam boilers and kettles were produced, used to heat other factories in Buda as well. The building was demolished to accommodate the construction of the new Haren prison, which stirred controversy in Buda and its surroundings due to its architectural importance and the factory’s role in advancing and implementing modern workplace concepts. The organisational philosophy extended to offering workers amenities such as free dental care, access to a library, and even a meditation room, all located on the factory premises. The Wanson building exemplified modernist architecture, drawing inspiration from the design of the Belgian pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Fair. It featured sculptural elements intended to inspire its workforce. The title of Cafmeyer’s work, translated into English as “nothing is impossible to a valiant heart,” is a reference to a slogan that was inscribed on one of the walls at Wanson. In Cafmeyer’s work, the factory ruin serves not only as a fictional tourist attraction for architectural history but also as a symbol of the decline of the company’s pride and the deterioration of human relations within the cultural dynamics between employers and employees.

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Curated by Anna Laganovska and Koi Persyn