Máté Bartha

Artista, MIA Fair 2023 @ TOBE Gallery

Máté Bartha, KONTAKT XXXV, 2018

Courtesy: TOBE Gallery

Fotografia analogica, stampa a pigmenti d'archivio
Analogue photography, archival pigment ink print
Dimensioni / Size: 100 x 74 cm
Edizione / Edition: 1/5 + 1AP
Prezzo / Price: 3940 €

The term contact, which describes physical connection, is also used for encountering two opposing military squads. The series titled KONTAKT is a visual discovery of military-themed summer camps organized by the Hungarian NGO, “Home Defense School”. Children aged 10 to 18 are taught for discipline, patriotism, and the usage of airsoft weapons, and hobby versions of real-life guns while experiencing the hardships of survival in wild nature. They camp under the sky, guard a fire, hike, sing together, and have a hard time doing push-ups. Strong friendships are being formed, and at the dawn of their puberty, they also make their first contact with expectations, responsibility, and with the other gender. The organizers believe that only a militaristic approach is able to demonstrate the importance of simple things in our current society such as nature, warm food, or the value of a community. Bartha spent one and a half year with them, facing more profound questions over time. The selection of images observes our attitude towards violence, war and their place in our society, generating discussion over our principles, and the limits of our tolerance towards these notions. The exhibition represents a variety of genres to tell the story of a community from a personal, yet an elevated point of view. The ambivalence of interpretation within each image, and in the selection altogether helps explore the complexity of a set of seemingly contradictory notions within a socially sensitive topic.

Máté Bartha

Ungheria @ Hungary
https://www.tobegallery.hu/tobe-gallery-artists/mate-bartha

Máté Bartha obtained his master’s degrees at the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design and at 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, entitled Common Nature (2014). With his project called KONTAKT, he received the Capa Grand Prize Fellowship (2017), the Robert Capa Grand Prize Hungary (2018), and the Luis Rederer Discovery Award – Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles (2019).