D A V O R

On October 4, 2010, one of the worst ecological disasters in Hungary's history occurred at the MAL aluminum factory in Ajka, a town 250 kilometers from Zagreb. At 12:35 p.m., Tank 10 ruptured, releasing one million cubic meters of “red mud,” contaminating an area spanning 40 square kilometers. The disaster claimed ten lives, destroyed hundreds of homes, severely injured more than 200 people, and affected a total of 7,000 residents.

Red mud, a byproduct of the Bayer process used to convert bauxite into aluminum, is highly alkaline with a pH value of 13. It contains toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and mercury.

In the months following the disaster, media attention waned, environmental organizations grew silent, and the situation seemed to stabilize. Six months later, I returned to document the long-term consequences of this catastrophe—a stark testament to the toll that greed and capitalism exact on both nature and human life.

In 2024, at the invitation of curators Irena Bekić (Art Pavilion, Zagreb, Croatia) and Dušica Dražić (Out Of Sight, Antwerp, Belgium), the project took on a new artistic form for the exhibition *Six Samples of Catastrophe*. The photographs were mounted on aluminum.

The MAL company, as well as any responsible individuals, were never held accountable for the disaster.