Between the Church and the Abyss
Hunor Tóth
Disintegrating communities, redefined rural landscape, memories, family, faith, and uncertainty. The contemporary village image diverges from the stereotypes of impoverished, elderly laborers or an idealized countryside; instead, it embodies internal conflicts, an uncertain future, and a reality unrecognizable to outsiders' perception. Within rural families, previous generations instinctively passed on not only agricultural and farming knowledge, but also community values, village life, and local culture.
Today, this hereditary process is completely questionable and subversive. My generation is the first to occupy a decisive place in the outcome of this changing hereditary process. Current visual research explores the intergenerational dynamics in this period, focusing on the youth in order to explore the notion of village, village identity and home.
Hunor Tóth (b. 2000) is a visual artist from Romania, currently residing and creating back and forth between Budapest, his home village of Tăureni (RO), and Odorheiu Secuiesc (RO). In 2024, he graduated from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest with a Master's degree in Photography.
In his artistic practice, he consistently focuses on rural life and its various aspects. Primarily, he engages in the photographic exploration and documentation of rural existence, aiming not only to dispel stereotypical images of the countryside but also to draw attention to the significance of contemporary rural culture and the various ways the concept of the village can be interpreted. He is interested in how rural communities redefine themselves, adapt, and change in response to contemporary challenges such as urbanization, modernization, and globalization.
His work combines staged and documentary photography. This combination is a defining element of his artistic practice.