László Végh: God, Huskies, Mountains

Hemző Károly Award 2020

Visiting is free of charge
November 05, 2021 – January 29, 2022
Monday–Saturday: 9am–7pm
Closed on Sunday and on public holidays.
Capa Center – 8F Gallery
Curator: Klára Szarka

Wearing a mask is obligatory throughout the Capa Center. We recommend the use of hand sanitizer and ask that appropriate social distance be maintained.

Attila Kiss is the Catholic parish priest of Óradna, a tiny village in the foothills of the Bârgău Mountains (Hungarian: Borgói-hegység) in the Carpathian Mountains. He has been working with huskies for seventeen years, since his ordination. He started out teaching himself; now, he is a world-champion dog musher also holding a silver medal from the European championships.

Attila and his first dog, Wolfi, took basic training sessions in a dog school. Wolfi learned to sit and walk on command correctly, but that was as far as they got in training. Attila later moved to Csíkszentgyörgy (Ciucsângeorgiu, Romania) and to the valley of Úz (in Romanian, Valea Uzului) to serve as an assistant priest in two small parishes. One day, he visited a nearby breeder of huskies and ended up leaving with two dogs. The breeder set only one condition: every once in a while, Attila must let the dogs pull a sled.

During one of his first dog sledding trips, as they started ascending, Attila had a spiritual experience: “At that moment I knew I would never be alone again – because I have God and these two beautiful animals by my side. Our Eternal Father had led these pious animals my way; he had allotted me a task with them.”

The next season, Attila unexpectedly won the Romanian dog sledding championship.

His parishioners found the curious priest and his unusual hobby strange and at first had a hard time understanding it. But by now, they have accepted it and they often ask about Attila’s latest racing results. Not one mass has been cancelled because of the sledding, as Attila makes sure that someone replaces him every time he leaves to race.

The unconditional love and the perseverance of the dogs inspires him in everyday challenges. “Working with people requires a lot of energy. I would say: this is freedom. When I see the dogs’ faces, on returning from a training run, as they get their rewards and pats… It is as if somehow in each of them God was smiling at me. If that is God’s smile… then this is what gives me a sense of freedom.”