DURST GYÖRGY

filmproducer,

Chairman of Board of Trustees at Mediawave Foundation

(Jerez de Frontera, Spain)

opinion and suggestions

Virtual Gathering

The situation caused by the epidemid has made us look for solutions on how to keep the community spirit awake until the Gathering which will hopefully take place in autumn. An obvious solution is to let the films be available online and make our photos and music videos public.

Until it happens, I'd like to remind you that people wre looking for solutions for emergencies in the past, as well. I am mentioning two well-known literary works.

Boccaccio: Decameron

The frames of Decameron is the following: during the 1348 plague, seven young women and 3 young men met in the Santa Maria Novella basilica and decided to escape the epidemic and leave the city for a rural castle where they entertain each other with telling interesting stories. For ten days, each of the ten participants tells a story each day under the guidance and direction of the “king” or “queen” chosen for that day. The daily told 10-10 short stories are grouped around a specific, predefined theme.

One Thousand and One Nights

The two main characters of the frame story are Sahrazad and King Sahriyar. Whent the king discovers his wife was was unfaithful, he decides to take a terrible rebvenge on women. Every night, he marries a virgin and executes her after the wedding night. Eventually the vizier cannot find any more virgins in the Empire. Then Sahrazád (known as Seherezádé or Sehrezád) the vizier's daughter offers herself as the next bride. On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the king a tale, but does not end it. This is how she forces the king to keep her alive. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins another one. This goes on for one thousand and one nights. The different versions have different endings, but they all end with Sahrijár sparing Sahrazád's life.

I think these are examples to follow and applicable techniques in virtual space. We could post someone's story about Mediawave on our website every day opening a new file/account. The stories can be photos, films, concerts, memories. The technical background for this needs to be created or developed.

Part of this is already going on under the title of memory collection, but I think it's important to make this page the main message and be the opening page of the website. This page should change day by day and week by week.

György Durst