curator: Katarzyna Zolich
Zamek Sielecki (Sosnowiec, ul. Zamkowa 2)
18.09.2026 – 31.12.2026
opening: 18.09.2026, godz. 18:00
guided tour: 20.09.2026, godz. 12:00
Judit Gellér: “What do you see in the Hungarian photography scene?”
Martin Parr: “I don’t know much about it; I’m not familiar with it, so I don’t have a formed opinion on the matter… I don’t know of any contemporary Hungarian photobooks.”
This excerpt from a conversation between researcher Judit Gellér and global photography icon Martin Parr opens the publication Fotókönyv-beszélgetések (Eng. Conversations on Photobooks) and serves as the starting point for the presented exhibition. It reveals a paradox: although the Hungarian photography scene is thriving, it often remains invisible beyond the country’s borders. How can this barrier be overcome in the case of Hungarian culture and language, which are spoken by only 14 million people worldwide? And is overcoming this barrier even a concern for those who create photobooks?
Gábor Arion Kudász describes the photobook as a “world passport” (világútlevél). Indeed, at a basic level, visual language allows us to cross national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. However, when we look deeper, it turns out that it becomes entangled in references that require translation. Visual Diplomacy is an attempt to mediate, represent, and communicate the Hungarian photobook not as a coherent and uniform phenomenon, but as an idea embedded in the context of internal conditions, processes of the global economy and culture, the climate crisis, and personal experiences.
Special thanks to Judit Gellér for sharing her research, as well as to Bei Istvánkó and Máté Lukács from the ISBN+ gallery and bookstore.
List of publications:
Photobooks:
- Zsolt Balázs, What Remains in the End
- Dóra Balla, Ballatone
- Szabolcs Barakonyi, Fortepan Masters
- Szabolcs Barakonyi, Árva – filmkönyv
- Máté Bartha, Anima Mundi
- Kincső Bede, Porcelain and Wool
- Anna Fabricius, Home is where work is
- Kata Geibl, There is nothing new under the sun
- Dániel Halász, Falu
- Adél Koleszár, Only Have Faith
- Gábor Arion Kudász, Memorabilia
- Gábor Arion Kudász, Tropical Depression
- Ryan Molnar & Zsolt Balazs, Fromm
- Barnabás Neogrády-Kiss, solitude
- Péter Puklus, The Hero Father – I’ve been lying my whole life
- Andi Schmied, Private Views: A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan
- Dezső Szabó, Landscape
- Dániel Szalai, Novogen
- Éva Szombat, I want orgasms, not roses
- Éva Szombat, ECHO IN DELIRIUM
- Dorottya Vékony, Would you be so kind as to undress, would you be please attract to me
Zines:
- Andrea Ausztrics, Family events, MAN and WOMEN, WOMEN and MAN
- Agota Mucsi, One is Not Born, but Becomes
- DEPOSIT, Sakartvelo – photos selected from the archives of Nikita Ruban
- FUSS Publishing, Flotilla
- Máté Bartha, The Dice Man
- Sebestyén Bruckner, Hungary, we need to talk
- Bogi Fedorkó, Adél Ónódi, TRANSZ CSAJOK A NAPPALIBAN
- Zsombor Tuu, Róbert Nunkovics, Salami Mix Fuss, Inota
- Albert Ganz, worldwide
- Dariusz Gwizdala, Vakáció
- Levente Hajdu, LEESIK
- Levente Hajdu, Ciklámen Simplon
- Levente Hajdu, Making my first zine took a lot of time
- Levente Hajdu, Történetek a kert végéből
- Anna Horváth, Can I repeat myself
- Innen Zines
- Barbara Mihályi, Levente Hajdu, Praktikép
- Péter Puklus, How to dismantle a pallet
- Anita Salamon, Benedek Balogh, Mátyás Czeglédi, MELEG VAN