MEDPHOTO 2026
TOURISM
Critical Archives VII: Lonely planets
Consistently oriented toward critical issues of our time, the sixth edition of MedPhoto focuses on the phenomenon of tourism. It looks into the manifestations of tourism within the economy, its role in shaping the natural landscape, its cultural impact, and, crucially, its organic relationship with the image, whether this be a travel agency poster, a personal holiday snapshot, or an algorithmically organised mechanism for mediating experience on social media.
The central exhibition, titled “Critical Archives VII: Lonely Planets”, traces a trajectory that begins with the 19th-century practice of privileged Northern European travellers visiting the Eastern Mediterranean, who study, document, and enjoy the region from a position of structural superiority, and extends to the mass tourism of the twentieth century, along with all the attendant symptoms of consumerism and homogenisation.
Behind, however, the nostalgic postcards of 20th-century locations or the stereotypical representations of places that never existed, the exhibition explores the connections between the development of leisure venues and the exploitation of archaeological sites, the growth of the cruise industry as a manifestation of the colonial and orientalist gaze, the exhaustion of natural resources, the over-expansion of the real estate sector, and, of course, the extractivist logic that governs every activity of modern capitalism, from the seabed to the Moon and Mars.
These connections raise questions that are simple yet, at the same time, absolutely crucial to the everyday life of places that are being transformed into “experiences”. How much do all-inclusive hotels contribute to local economies, and what, ultimately, is the connection between visitors and the place itself? Can popular resorts be anything more than monocultures of clubbing or commercialised places for collecting memories? Yet other, deeper existential questions also arise. What psychological impulses drive millions of tourists to visit macabre landmarks across the globe, such as mausoleums, cemeteries and places associated with tragedies (dark tourism)? Why is boredom so pervasive in entertainment venues designed specifically to “combat” it? How free is the time that lies between forced enjoyment and the anxiety of returning to the (unphotographable) activities of the daily routine?
By looking at tourism in conjunction with other factors such as geopolitics or gentrification, MedPhoto presents works that examine how the transformation of entire cities or islands into theme parks is linked to the weakening of the primary and secondary sectors of the economy and to the exacerbation of housing insecurity, as well as how our very own “national” self-image is linked to ongoing military operations and to the political imperatives concerning where we belong culturally and historically. How do these places themselves constantly (re)construct their identity to attract even more tourists? How does the reality of tourist destinations teeter between desire, myth, invisible labour and exoticisation?
Participating artists:
Rhiannon Adam, Katerina Angelopoulou, Giorgos Argyrakis, Cristina Arribas Sanchez, Marwa Arsanios, Depression Era Collective, Grigoris Digas, Thomas Dworzak, Konstantinos Gdontakis, Abigail Hadeed, Dimitra Kondylatou, Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Emiddio Vasquez, Margarita Yoko-Nikitaki, Marco Zorzanello
Archival photographs from the Haris Yiakoumis Collection
Photobooks by:
TBA
Artistic direction:
Pavlos Fysakis
Curated by:
Yiannis Hadjiaslanis, Dimitris Kechris, Penelope Thomaidi
