Pixel and folk­lore

Hungarian Traditional Folk Art and Photography in the 21st Century

Colourful, varied and exciting. This is true both for the present existence and visual capture of Hungarian folklore. Among the two dozen exhibiting photographers, we can find an Artist of the Nation, Péter Korniss or others who have been capturing folk traditions for decades, like Béla Kása or Gyula Ádám. Some authority figures of the middle generation are also present, such as Ottó Kaiser, Zsófia Pályi, Ádám Urbán, and even younger ones like Tamás Farbaky or Zsófia Mohos. 

They work in many different styles. The walls feature original reportage images, concept-based works, some flighty moments and a reconstructed, dreamed-up reality. However, a deep interest in traditions also connects the different creators in today's "pixel-based" world. This is what drives them to travel thousands of miles, stay awake for long nights, sweat and freeze and devote their vacation days and holidays to understanding and recording the celebrations, joys and sorrows of others. For us.

Our artists have found amazing things with their cameras. The grotesque scenery of village days, the last inhabitants of the farm world, trendy outlaws, the colourful universe of pilgrims or the evocative authentic gestures of the Gyimes Csángos. For a short time at the turn of the Millennium, globalisation seemed to erase all traditions: Both folk art and photography. But even if in a new way, if irregularly, in many colours and in a thrilling manner, tradition keeps popping up here and there. 

The conceptual essence of the exhibition is to understand and show our changing relationship with tradition and the visual breakthrough that presents it as our lives and our world have been radically transformed. There are some things that disappear from our traditions as if they had never existed, but there are some that adapt, live on, and are almost reborn in the new Millennium. It seems that the essence of folklore is renewal. And this may be a life-saving guideline for today's people. 

Just as folk art connects and gives a creative community experience to different social groups, so in its style and also in terms of generations, a very colourful set of exhibitors demonstrates the universal and comprehensive basic nature of photography: the joy of creation and creativity always manage to find their way.