Babetta 207, an exhibition by Eda Babák, follows the restoration of the legendary Czechoslovak moped in a way that goes far beyond technical documentation. It is a story of friendship, collaborative work, and a community that takes shape around machines, wrenches, and grease-stained hands.

The Babetta 207 is a lightweight moped powered by a 49 cc two-stroke single-cylinder engine, manufactured in the 1970s at Považské Strojárne. Originally designed as an affordable means of transportation, it has, over time, become both a collector’s item and a vehicle for community engagement. Its technical simplicity and endless potential for modification have made it the focal point of broad communities united by repairing, tuning, and rebuilding these machines.

The exhibition by Eda Babák, recipient of the Czech Grand Design 2026 Award in the Discovery of the Year category, is rooted in a specific restoration project on which the artist has been working together with his friend Tomáš. Here, the Babetta is neither merely a technical object nor a nostalgic artifact of the past. Instead, it becomes a link between two people from different family and social backgrounds who find a common language through focused work – through the patient process of dismantling, assembling, and bringing a machine back to life. What might initially appear to be a simple moped repair gradually reveals itself as a foundation for building friendship, trust, closeness, and shared time.

On the gallery’s ground floor, visitors will encounter a photographic record of the restoration process itself: studio photographs of individual components, images from the workshop, and detailed views of materials, tools, and the various stages of the rebuild. The gallery’s basement expands the exhibition toward the wider community that has formed around the Babetta.