EVENT: 2. GUIDED TOUR OF THE BABETTA 207 EXHIBITION

Tours of the exhibition, which serves as technical documentation of the Babetta’s restoration, a portrait of a community of enthusiasts, and a heartfelt account of friendship. The tour will be led by curator Světlana Malina and the author, Eda Babák.

The project follows the restoration of the iconic Czechoslovak moped in a way that extends far beyond technical documentation. It is a story of friendship, shared labour, and a community that takes shape around machines, wrenches, and grease-stained hands.

The exhibition, by Eda Babák, recipient of the 2026 Czech Grand Design Award in the Discovery of the Year category, is rooted in the ongoing restoration of a Babetta undertaken together with his friend Tomáš. Here, the moped is neither merely a technical object nor a nostalgic relic of the past. Instead, it becomes a point of connection between two people from different family and social backgrounds who find a shared language through focused work—through patiently dismantling, rebuilding, and bringing a machine back to life. What initially appears to be a simple repair project gradually reveals itself as a foundation for friendship, trust, intimacy, and shared experience.

Eda Babák’s practice moves naturally between staged and documentary photography, bringing these two approaches together into a visually coherent and distinctive language. Across both genres, he creates technically precise and uncompromisingly sharp images stripped of unnecessary visual noise. His photographs are direct and free from excessive stylisation, while maintaining a recognisable identity and an openness to improvisation, play, and experimentation.

Babák is currently a student in Photography Studio II at UMPRUM under the guidance of Alena Kotzmannová. In 2026, he received the Czech Grand Design Award in the Discovery of the Year category.