“Now I’m getting them used to it, the weekend crowd scared the birds away a bit,” explained Tamás Kánya, as he waited patiently with an outstretched arm, a few black sunflower seeds in his palm. And he turned out to be right, after a short wait a chuszka appeared, who although with sufficient care and caution, still confidently nibbled from his treat. “I know him, he comes here regularly, he gets on my shoulder and he used to loudly demand the seed. Sometimes he rummaged in my pocket, he couldn’t wait until I took out the food bag,” he added with a smile.
Of course, we can’t be surprised at the mass interest, because the man created a unique fairytale world in the floodplain forest of Budakaláz.
Tamás built Mánófalva exclusively from natural materials, in fact from all kinds of things he found there, in the forest, a magical kingdom, the sight of which even adults turn back into children and wait with bated breath when a fairy will step out of the tiny, yet richly detailed doors of the tiny houses. fairy tale character. We stand in silence for several minutes, and the calmness, the atmosphere that is unique to the autumn forest, pervades. The smell of decaying avar, the strength suggested by the gnarled tree trunks, the steam pouring in from the Danube are the most fantastic stress relievers in existence. And although when we were there, only birds visited the place – cicadas and skunks – you leave with the feeling that fairies, elves, and dwarves must be living there, just popping in to do some shopping or just taking a nap. If we listen, we might even hear their snoring…
Tamás Kánya worked as a goldsmith, but now he devotes his time to creating unique, ephemeral works of art like this one. They are ephemeral, as he dismantles his other installations himself over time, but in the case of Manófalva, nature intervened, several times now. Last year, the idea started with a simple bird feeder, and then more and more things fell into his hands, driftwood, mushrooms, moss, snail shells, orange strawberries, chestnuts – the floodplain forest is an inexhaustible source of these raw materials – and he did not consider all of these as waste, but as building materials. One by one, the small houses fell out of his control, until he found himself that a whole small town had grown out of nothing. But the flood came and his work came to nothing. This year, he rebuilt everything, but the flood in September destroyed his work again. However, this did not discourage him, so Manófalva was completed again by the beginning of November. In other words, no way, in fact it is never ready, the creator is constantly working on it, producing new and new houses, beautifying and beautifying the existing ones.
Anyone who thinks that only families with small children visit Manófalvá is wrong. On the weekends, of course, they are mostly busy here, but during the weekdays, even the adults walking and cycling here can’t stand not to stop for a few minutes to enjoy themselves, have fun, and change back into children a little bit. Women are especially captivated by the atmosphere, men are more likely to talk about how many working hours there are. The oldest visitor was a 93-year-old lady in a wheelchair, who was brought out by her relatives because she kept insisting that she wanted to see this. On the one hand, Tamás is happy about the sudden popularity – the photos taken here have already reached millions of views on social media – but he wants to ask families with small children to teach their children to respect the forest and how to behave in nature. “Don’t forget that we are only guests here!” he drew attention. Anyone can visit Manófalva, but do so without disturbing the animals, breaking off branches, trampling, or destroying the creations. In addition, he also warned that visitors should not bring candle holders, not only because aluminum and plastic do not fit the picture offensively, but also because natural materials can easily catch fire. On the other hand, he is happy with the bird food, and he has even experienced over the years that the little birds actually only eat the black sunflower, they also pick it out of the mixed seed mixture, and leave the rest alone. The disadvantage of this is that the leftovers attract mice.
In the end, Tamás Kánya also said that anyone can create, if not exactly this, but a similar fairytale world in their own garden. He is happy to show you how he works, there is nothing magical about it, only imagination and some dexterity are needed to be able to experience the magic of Manófalva every day.
Source: nepszava.hu
