Polifónia (Polyphony) took place in Budapest in November 1993, and the explicit goal of its organisers was to create public spaces and stimulate art that addresses social issues. However, this did not play out in the way they envisioned it. Rosalyn Deutsche's succinct response to the question posed in the title of this thesis suggests that "What is recognized in public space is the legitimacy of contest about what is legitimate and what is illegitimate." In short, the answer might be yes. My work is concerned with the types of spaces that gave rise to the ephemeral and site-specific artistic interventions of the early 1990s, and the spaces they created.