Exhibition

What does it mean to inherit a history you did not choose? How does the memory of socialism continue to shape lives in Eastern Europe today? And how can photography give form to such layered, intergenerational experiences?

These questions lie at the heart of Kincső Bede’s series Three Colours I Know in This World (2019–21). Drawing on her background as a member of the Hungarian Székler minority in Transylvania, Romania, the artist creates visual worlds where folkloric symbols, everyday objects from the Soviet planned economy, and intimate portraits intersect. Through this interplay, the work explores the legacy of communism, Ceaușescu’s power, and the surveillance of the Securitate—tracing how these histories continue to resonate in the present.

Kincső Bede (*1995 in Covasna, Romania) studied at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and was awarded the Association of Hungarian Photographers’ scholarship in 2020, the same year she was named one of the Carte Blanche Students at Paris Photo. Since then, her work has been shown at Unseen Amsterdam (2021), Paris Photo (2021), the PhotoVogue Festival in Milan (2022), as well as in exhibitions at Saint Laurent in Paris and Los Angeles. She was nominated for the Esterhazy Art Award (2023) and most recently participated in OFF-Biennale Budapest (2025).

Her works are held in international collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, and have been featured in numerous magazines, such as The Art Newspaper, VOGUE, DATUM, and Der Greif. She is represented by TOBE Gallery, Budapest.

The exhibition is curated by Mona Schubert art historian, curator, and writer. Her projects explore photography at the intersection of art, technology, and media history, photographic exhibitions since the 1960s and post-digital image practices. Since 2024, she has been a curator at FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, with a particular focus on the festival FOTO WIEN. In 2025, she completed her PhD at the University of Cologne on the topic “(Re-)construction of a Medium. Photography at documenta 6.” Previously, she worked as a research assistant in the DFG-research group “Dimensions of techne in the Fine Arts” at University of Graz and as an assistant curator at Fotomuseum Winterthur. She has contributed to numerous research projects, most recently as a stipend of Anna Polke Stiftung (2024).

vernissage: 8 September 2025 at 18:30 at the Kahan Art Space Vienna, Große Pfarrgasse 7
1020 Vienna
 
opening times: Wednesday-Saturday 18:00-22:00 and by appointment, admission is free

Artist’s Tour with Kincső Bede
4 October 2025 at 17:00

The artist Kincső Bede guides you through her exhibition “Grenzwächter“ (Border Guards) at the Kahan Art Space Vienna and opens up personal as well as historical perspectives on her works.

Kincső Bede combines personal self-positioning with an exploration of collective memory in post-socialist Eastern Europe through her photography. As a member of the Hungarian Székler minority in Transylvania, Romania, she creates multilayered visual worlds where folkloric symbols, everyday objects from the Soviet planned economy, and intimate portraits intersect.

This event is part of the Foto Wien Festival.