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