If you only travel through the Káli Basin, you never realize who lives behind the beautiful fences and houses of the area. Today, the Káli Basin is truly pretty and popular, but that is definitely due to those creative people who moved here in the '70s and '80s, and have been forming the area's scenery ever since. The photo series of Alexandra Heim, a fresh member of We Love Balaton’s editorial team, presents eight people – from a local wine expert through an artist who spends her summers here, to a pensioner handyman – who all bring new things into their small and splendid world.
Dalma Korényi – sculptor, Salföld
Dalma moved to Salföld with her husband in 1986, and besides concentrating on keeping animals, she has been making her rugs and artworks here ever since, while also teaching young people this wonderful profession.
Győző Somogyi – Kossuth Prize winning painter, Salföld
Győző and his wife chose rural life and moved to Salföld in 1986. He paints, hosts summer camps, and organizes hussar meetings here. He writes and draws a newspaper called Káli Híradó by hand.
Tamás Tóth – sculptor, Mindszentkálla
The experimental sculptor, Tamás, used to be an interior designer, but he has been building their farmhouse in Mindszentkálla since 2013. His materials are mainly wood and stone, but he sometimes works with silver, lace, and lead. Before the birth of his son, he saw Mother Mary and little Jesus in everything, and this motif has been significant in his work ever since.
Sára Fegyverneky – architect, Szentbékkálla
Sára and her love, Olivér, started renovating the Pegazus Fogadó (translation, Pegasus Inn) in 2014. Pegazus operates as a community and exhibition space, turning into the main cultural and artistic center of the area. The photo of Sára and their pet, Lufi (translation: balloon) was taken at their holiday house at Zánka, where she spent most of her childhood years.
Eszter Ágnes Szabó – graphic artist, Szentbékkálla
The artist of the well-known splash-cloth Zalai Imréné találkozása David Bowie-val (translation: Imréné Zalai’s encounter with David Bowie) spends most of her summer at Szentbékkálla. One of her main inspirations is the market; she loves marmalade, and a sugary pretzel (even she agrees it’s not at all delicious) that can only be bought at Tapolca.
Miklós Lőrincz – pensioner, handyman, Kisörspuszta
Kisörspuszta’s one and only permanent resident tried a bit of everything – as he says – from shoe making through photography to creating a three-legged vehicle, but he never finished any of these. He rebuilt his house with his own hands and with a little help from his friends, and he does everything that is possible by hand. Every afternoon at 5pm he watches Paramparça, a Turkish drama television series, so we could only meet him after 6pm.
Georg Pintér – film director, Kisörspuszta
Known as "Uncle George" at Kisörspuszta, Georg has already been a camera-man, and actor, and a director. He considers his 1979 experimental film, Asztrokarnevál, as his most important work, which only cost him 120 dollars to produce. He recorded the film on eight rolls on a Super8 camera, purchased at a pawn shop, and then he glued the rolls together. With the film he won 25 tickets to the night ball, which he sold, so he centupled the money he spent on the film. He spends his summers at Kisörspuszta reading and swimming; his house can be recognized by a flashing purple goose in his window.
Balázs Káli, wine expert, Szentbékkálla
Balázs, just as his name suggests (in Hungarian Káli means from Kál), was born here, but it is not known whether he is a descendant of the Kál clan. Since May, 2016, his wines have even been selected for sale by Bortársaság. The photo was taken at the cellar at Fekete Hill, where he would like to establish a tourist center of wine making in the future.
This list is non-exhaustive, but simply aims to present the colorful nature of these artists.
