Published by the acclaimed team at Fortepan, Hungary’s communal photo archive, “Tekerj!” (“Pedal!”) is an attractive presentation book in English and Hungarian themed around the history of domestic cycling. We took a quick look at it ourselves.
The latest in a series of archive albums collated by Fortepan, this one has a slightly different format and concept. It has also been produced in collaboration with the Budapest Bike Maffia. Tekerj! (“Pedal!”) covers the recent and age-old pastime of cycling in Hungary, highlighting its cultural and historical curiosities, as penned by Zoltán Poós. Like his text, the accompanying English translation is light and lively.
Delving back into history, who would have thought that cyclists were once subject to rigorous controls, such as having to appear at a police station every three months for a health check-up. Yet, for all that, rural and urban cyclists, professionals and amateurs, kids and grown-ups, all managed go to school and church on two wheels – as illustrated by more than 100 fascinating images here.
In addition, the book outlines the development of four influential local organisations – Critical Mass, Hajtás Pajtás, the Hungarian Cycling Club and the Budapest Bike Maffia – which have actively shaped the domestic cycling community and played an important role in civil life through grassroots social action. BBM were created by young cyclists in 2011 and are known for delivering food to homeless people on bikes, to name one aspect of their remit.
BBM also distributes Tekerj! online (3,250 HUF) and you can find it at branches of Libri around Budapest.
