MÁTÉ BARTHA

MÁTÉ BARTHA

KONTAKT

CURATED BY FLÓRA MÉSZÁROS

The series “Kontakt“ is a visual exploration of military-themed summer camps organized by the Hungarian NGO “Home Defense School”. Children aged 10 to 18 are taught discipline, patriotism, and the use of airsoft weapons (sport-use replicas of real guns) while learning survival skills in the wild. Bartha spent a year and a half with the camp. This selection of images addresses our attitude towards violence and war, their place in our society, and asks us to question our principles and the limits of our tolerance. The exhibition tells the story of a community from a personal but distanced point of view. The interpretive ambivalence in each image, and in the selection as a whole, helps us explore the complexity of a set of seemingly contradictory notions in a socially sensitive topic.

Image: Máté Bartha, Kontakt I, Hungary, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
LOCATION: JIMEI CITIZEN SQUARE MAIN EXHIBITION HALL

2019 Louis Roederer Discovery Award Winner

Presented by TOBE Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)

TOBE Gallery focuses on contemporary photography. The gallery opened in October 2013 with the aim of presenting Hungarian and Ibero-American artists whose idea of experimentation includes an ambition of high-quality artistic expression. TOBE Gallery exhibits and represents both recognized and emerging artists. tobegallery.hu

Máté Bartha, Kontakt XLVIII, Hungary, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
Máté Bartha, Kontakt XXVII, Hungary, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
Máté Bartha, Kontakt XXVII, Hungary, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
Máté Bartha, Kontakt XXXV, Hungary, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
PHOTOGRAPHER
MÁTÉ BARTHA

Born 1987, Budapest, Hungary.

Lives and works in Budapest.

Máté Bartha works in the fields of photography and documentary film. He obtained his master’s degrees at the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design and the University of Theater and Film Arts, both in Budapest. After receiving the National Scholarship of Hungary for photographers, he self-published his first book, Common Nature (2014). With his most recent project, KONTAKT, he received the Capa Grand Prize Fellowship (2017), the Robert Capa Grand Prize Hungary (2018) and the Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2019).

barthamate.com

Self-portrait by Máté Bartha
curator

FLÓRA MÉSZÁROS

Born 1986, Pécs, Hungary.

Lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.

Flóra Mészáros is an art historian focusing on avant-garde and contemporary art, completing a Ph.D. at the Paris IV-Sorbonne University. She is a senior lecturer at Károli Gáspár University, Budapest, teaching contemporary photography and other subjects. In her independent curatorial practice, she deals with modern and contemporary Hungarian and international art. She worked as an assistant curator at the Kunsthalle Budapest. She is also an author and editor.

Portrait of Flóra Mészáros ©️Máté Bartha