BALATORIUM

There are few people without deep emotional ties to this, in many respects unique, natural and social phenomenon, landscape and culture.

Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, is undeniably one of Hungary's most important regions. Numerous factors and countless intersecting interests shape its reality. From plankton to investors, from the reeds to holidaymakers, fish to sailors, locals to resident newcomers, and ecologists to beach managers, all stakeholders are keenly aware of their own personal standpoints regarding Lake Balaton.

But how aware are we of the complex interrelationships of this delicate ecosystem? Do we really know our lake and the landscape to which we are so profoundly attached? Are we capable of understanding and recognising our common interests alongside our own?

These questions define the BALATORIUM programme, a priority project of VEB2023, to explore the region’s ecological issues and to communicate them through art and education.

Performative tours of the countryside, interactive public activities, exhibitions, technical discussions, audio plays and artist residency programmes – all aim to raise awareness of the fragile ecological system of Lake Balaton and promote a shift in attitudes towards this incredible natural treasure.

PAD Foundation, our key partner in the project, is promoting a wide range of collaborative activities: scientific institutes, researchers, creatives and artists are involved in implementing the year-and-a-half programme.

The climax of the series is the Balatorium Ecological Weekend at the end of summer, with colourful science and art shows held at beaches, at the Balaton Uplands National Park and the Balaton Limnological Research Institute, along with discussions, workshops and cultural programmes.

Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) students and teachers are involved in developing playful educational programmes for 14–18-year-olds, reflecting on ecological topics of Lake Balaton and connected to the Balatorium programme. The courses will include a board game, an educational compendium and related teacher training for secondary school teachers as well as interactive school programmes cooperating with the Bakony-Balaton Környezetvédelmi Oktatóközpont Egyesület (Bakony-Balaton Environmental Education Centre Association).

Using data visualisation tools, MOME students have created art and design projects by analysing and visual processing of data related to Lake Balaton’s ecology. In their summer camp, an installation designed by students of the MOME Institute of Architecture will be erected on the shore of Lake Balaton as an alternative education site, exhibition and community space. The results of the courses and the architecture camps will be presented at the Balatorium Ecology Week and the Budapest Design Week in the autumn.

Just as the living system of Lake Balaton is composed of countless invisible processes that often remain unknown to us, the Balatorium programme was created with exciting background processes taking place behind the scenes. In several years of preparatory work, regional and national scientific institutes, researchers and national and international ecology-art experts designed the themes and topics. This exciting experimental process will be presented to the public in the autumn of 2023 at the House of Arts in Veszprém, where professional discussions and workshops will be held, in addition to art installations and screenings.

Everyone is familiar with the characteristic sounds of the Balaton beaches, the waves or the reeds whispering in the wind. But what do invasive species, algal bloom, managed ecosystems or climate change sound like? Hungarian and foreign musicians from the frontiers of underground and mainstream are invited to be inspired by the most important ecological concepts of the region. They have been asked to freely create music with help from researchers using sound samples of the lake. The album will be produced under the Banana Records label and feature ecological and artistic content. It will be launched in 2023 at a concert to celebrate the sound of Lake Balaton.

Partners: Balaton Limnological Research Institute, Balaton Uplands National Park, Bakony-Balaton Környezetvédelmi Oktatóközpont Egyesület (Bakony-Balaton Environmental Protection Education Centre), University of Pannonia Limnological Research Group, Budapest Design Week