Hungarian Sea

Hungarian Sea is a journey through the summer memories of Michal Solarski who, more than twenty years later, photographs the place where he used to spend his childhood holidays; the shores of Lake Balaton in Hungary. This is the largest lake in Central Europe, and was a popular tourist destination for the workers of the Soviet bloc. In the mind of the young Solarski, from “sad, grey Poland”, it was paradise for two unique, incomparable weeks a year.

Paid vacations are probably the greatest symbol of the pause in contemporary Western society. Together with the eight-hour day and the day of rest on Sunday, they are a historic achievement of the workers’ struggle, but they present the paradox that, in reality, they serve to sustain the rhythm of production: we stop in order to endure, we stop so that we can continue working. The utopian Paul Lafargue, author of The right to be lazy, imagines an ideal society in which work and consumption are reduced to a minimum and humans dedicate themselves entirely to their natural inclination, the cultivation of the senses. This is seen in the Situationists’ motto “Never work”: we don’t want paid holidays, we want permanent holidays. 

Michal Solarski was born in Poland in 1977 and currently lives in London. After obtaining a master in Politics in his home country, he moved to London where he obtained another master in Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication. His professional career is divided between advertising and his personal projects. Eastern Europe is where he produces most of his work, which is based on his own background and experiences with an emphasis on leisure and memories. He has been winner and finalist of various internationally recognised awards and grants such as the Lensculture Visual Storytelling Awards, the Leica Oscar Barnack Award, the PDN Photo Annual or the Photolucida Critical Mass. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of WWII in Gdansk and KVOST Kunstverain Ost in Berlin, among others, and has been widely published in many different publications including The Guardian, TIME, National Geographic, WIRED or It’s Nice That.

OUTDOOR INSTALLATION

7 – MICHAL SOLARSKI
Hungarian Sea

VENUE: San Nikolas square