Corrupt mayor or misunderstood artist? The trendsetting aesthetics of the treetop walkway in Nyírmártonfalva

Nyírmártonfalva mayor Mihály Filemon has faced his own inquisition after the construction of a treeless treetop walkway, dismissed at best as grotesque and at worst as corruption.

It would be easy to lambast this Galileo Galilei of canopy walkways, this visionary in the world of pedestrian access to forest canopies, this thinker – nay, savant – of upright structures that overlook a vast nothingness.

But Átlátszó rejects easy. We looked at the walkway not as the questionable investment of a small-town mayor, but as the masterpiece of an artist misunderstood. We delved into the phenomenon with a thorough analysis of the creation and the creator. The paradigm shift not only shows the treetop walkway for what it truly is – a revolutionary aesthetic triumph – but also places previously completed masterpieces in a new light.

Central Europe is embracing land art, and Filemon is leading the charge. In the face of narrow-minded accusations, one can only hope that this is not the artist’s last work of its kind, and that many others will continue to crop up across the country.

Our previous stories on the topic:

• TI Hungary filed official complaint to the Integrity Authority over the “partly unforested canopy trails” financed by the EU
• Unforested canopy trail: the mayor demands an apology and threatens legal action
• The forest was cut to the ground during the construction of the EU-funded treetop walkway in Nyírmártonfalva

Translated by Vanda Mayer, video by Ferenc Sebő.