KONTAKT
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.
©Flóra Mészáros, art historian
Les Rencontres de la Photographie
Louis Roederer Discovery Award – WINNER
KONTAKT by Máté Bartha
Curator: Flóra Mészáros
July 01 – September 22, 2019
Ground Control | Arles, France
*with the support of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary NKA
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KONTAKT by Máté Bartha | ARLES
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KONTAKT by Máté Bartha | ARLES
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KONTAKT by Máté Bartha | ARLES
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KONTAKT by Máté Bartha | ARLES
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KONTAKT by Máté Bartha | ARLES
Press
- In rural Hungary, photographer Máté Bartha reveals the human face of a military youth camp, Nadia Beard / Calvert Journal
- Máté Bartha’s Kontakt – Hungary’s military summer youth camps, Sean O’Haggan / The Guardian
- Hungary’s military-themed summer camps, Sarah Roberts / BJP 1854
- Hungarian boot camp for kids, Ross Ibetson / MailOnline
- Prix Découverte Louis Roederer: qui sont les deux lauréats ex æquo?, Laure Etienne / POLKA
- Soldati bambini per finta / il Post
- Interjú Bartha Mátéval, Mucsi Emese / Artmagazin