Henger Studio, the newest creative workshop and public space in Budapest, is full of visitors on its opening day. DJs follow one another, Dominika Szarka’s works cover the walls, natural wine and kombucha are poured into the glasses. The cultural scene in Budapest is now—with an unusual twist—set to be enlivened by a place that focuses on a time-consuming activity that requires a high degree of precision and expertise, but is increasingly popular: ceramics.
Henger Studio was founded by two young ceramists, Dávid Godzsák and Debóra Horák, following the suggestion of Dávid. They wanted to create a space that could be a cool base for ceramists, and even more—a place where it is always good to go, where people can learn from each other, talk, shop, exhibit and create, and occasionally have breakfast together, while the DJ plays pulsating music.
David is a programmer by education, he spends his daily work in this profession, ceramics have appeared as a hobby in his life, and little by little he developed a closer relationship with it. A few years ago, he first seized clay in István Róbert Nagy’s studio in Zugló, and then studied ceramic design more seriously in Eric Landon’s studio (Tortus) in Copenhagen. He was strongly influenced by his experiences there, at the famous ceramicist’s school, work, based on community experiences and free creation, is the standard—as in the newly opened Henger Studio. So the new place—although I have never been at Tortus School myself, but judging by the content uploaded to Instagram—might also sneak a bit of the Tortus studio feel into Budapest.
Dávid moved back from Denmark last September, while he was already thinking about opening a studio, and he started looking for a place early. He involved Debóra Horák, who studied sculpture at a technical high school, then graduated as a designer specializing in silicates in Sopron, and finally graduated with special ceramic training at the Secondary School of Visual Arts in Budapest.
“For a long time, I had a desire to have my own brand, and it was outlined in the Secondary School of Visual Arts that it was worth starting this journey with ceramics. At the beginning of the pandemic, I had some free time and started planning, so HORA design was founded. In the Henger Studio, Dávid and I discuss everything, we decide everything together, we choose the place, renovate it, equip the workshop, manage social media, and organize future programs and events,” Debóra says.
Opened at Erkel Street 3, Henger Studio is a ceramic studio that you can visit regularly with a membership system, but soon workshops will be launched that anyone can join. Originally, they wanted to reach out to those who feel the desire to create after a ceramic workshop, but have nowhere to go to practice, but when developing the studio, they realized that such a space is also important and useful for those who have just completed their ceramic studies at art universities and courses, but do not yet have enough capital to open their own workshop. Among the first members of the studio, there are several who work in other fields, such as tech and PR, and ceramics is their love project, but ceramic design students also visit them.
Members entering the studio can use the space and the facilities for a fee. Currently, there are two furnaces and several pottery wheels. Now there are six people working in the space, but up to fifteen permanent members can be in the studio. Entering the ground floor, a showroom-like reception area welcomes us, and ceramic objects available for purchase on the shelves rest, including the works of Dávid and Debóra. The cellar is the creative space, where work tables, pottery wheels, furnaces, raw materials and works in various phases are lined up. The floor acts as a community space, where the painting corner of an accepted member, Gáspár from the UX/UI designer scene, welcomes us during the photoshoot, but the long-term goal is to hold workshops and other social events here. The members are already preparing with wheel throwing and gypsum casting workshops, but Dávid and Debóra are happy to accept other instructors. In addition to education, brunches and fairs are also planned in the newly open space.
Photos: Dániel Gaál
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Dávid Godzsák | Instagram
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