The Thessaloniki Photobiennale 2023, organised by MOMus and curated by the MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, is supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, completes its thirty-fifth anniversary and is one of the oldest photography festivals in Europe. It is an important stage for the presentation of contemporary and historical Greek photography while being a vital crossroad with the international scene.

In this year’s event, the main exhibition entitled “The spectre of the people” is curated by the acclaimed art historian, photographer and curator Julian Stallabrass. Hosted at the MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and the MOMus- Experimental Center for the Arts, the exhibition explores populism through photography and video. As the spectre of populism stalks the Earth, artists have grappled with its myriad dimensions: how and if to represent ‘the people’ (should they be thought to exist), and to represent democratic power, the nature of charismatic leaders, and popular protest and insurgency. The media of the lens, woven tightly around the history of mass politics since its inception, have been a natural field for this artistic exploration, which is variously documentary, performative, satrirical and conceptual.

In the programme of the Thessaloniki Photobiennale 2023 exhibitions historical and contemporary, group and individual, of emerging and established photographers, a selection of the domestic photobook in the last twenty years, run along parallel events, educational programmes and guided tours. All MOMus museums participate in the Thessaloniki Photobiennale 2023 for the first time since the launch of the organisation on 2018, and the festival is warmly supported by cultural bodies and organisations of Thessaloniki and Greece.

Living today in an environment with present everywhere the consequences of the health crisis that the pandemic left in the last three years, and facing other kinds of crises, such as the climate and even wars, photography emerges as a medium that captures a not always optimistic reality, at the same time creating opportunities for lively and active thinking on the future that is already here.

Organising Institution

MOMus-Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki

Implementation Institution

MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography

General Coordination

Iro Katsaridou, Director of MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography

Hercules Papaioannou, Head of MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography collections