This summer, people who stroll along Budapest’s Danube bank can admire a trio of oversized fish-shaped sculptures that will drift amid passing boats on the river between the Liberty Bridge and Petőfi Bridge. This surreal sight is the brainchild of Hungarian sculptor Zsófia Farkas, who handed in her design plans to a national tender called “the Danube installation” earlier this year, in which she was granted first prize and the chance to set up the contemporary composition that will be installed on the Danube in June, and will enhance the riverscape for five months.

In March, the Municipality of Budapest – in joint cooperation with the Pro Cultura Urbis Public Foundation and the Budapest History Museum – called out for talented artists to participate in an innovative tender and come up with progressive plans for a one-of-a-kind installation that would enhance the riverscape through this summer and beyond. The display’s theme had to express what the Danube means to city dwellers, with the final composition drawing attention to Budapest’s historic waterway while passing on a modern message.A total of 20 creative artists joined the competition, presenting pioneering projects such as a representation of oversized plastic bottles and large watermelons floating on the water’s surface, but an unpretentious display proved to be the winner, demonstrating three giant fish in their natural habitat as they playfully plunge into the river. The composition – titled “Nagy Halak Emlékezete”, roughly translating to “Memories of Big Fish” – was dreamed up by Magyar sculptor Zsófia Farkas, who can now start assembling the surreal setting that will turn heads towards the water’s surface near Buda’s Műegyetem rakpart close to Liberty Bridge.

“We should play with the thought: once upon a time, there was a world, controlled by the spirits of Unity and Nature, and this world was inhabited by magical creatures, including the Big Fish of the Danube. The spirits of these beings are returning to Budapest in 2017 to remind us with their presence that we only borrow the place and time where we live and one day we will be held accountable for all of this,” says the artist.