PhotoBiennale 2018

The Thessaloniki PhotoBiennale 2018 presents to the public 21 exhibitions of Greek and international photography, of varying themes and photographic approaches, with the participation of 142 artists from many countries of the world.

At this year's event, the central exhibition entitled Capitalist Realism is curated by Penelope Petsini and assistant curator Fotis Milionis. Structured in two large sections hosted at the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, the exhibition attempts to highlight issues that contribute to the emergence or exacerbation of economic crises in the international environment, on a contemporary and historical horizon.

This year's event, which marks the 30th anniversary of its founding, adopts some new ideas and practices for the festival:

• The organisation and presentation of the exhibitions of two emerging Greek photographers, through an open call competition juried by a three-member committee which included Yiorgos Depollas (photographer), Stratos Kalafatis (photographer) and Theodore Markoglou (art historian - curator of the ThMP).
• The presentation of two exhibitions with works from the ThMP permanent collection.
• The hosting of an international exhibition on photobooks.
• The collaboration with other festivals and photographic events of the country (Athens Photo Festival, Photometria, MedPhoto, Kythera Photographic Encounters).
• The organisation of an anniversary exhibition with works from the collection of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, donated by artists who had previously participated in the festival.
• The hosting of an exhibition highlighting the close relationship between photography and social media.
• A partnership with the University of Macedonia Press for the book accompanying the central exhibition.

At the same time, this year's festival, supported by the Public Investment Programme of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, includes parallel events for the photographic and general public, such as educational programmes and guided tours, workshops and lectures, a tribute to the relationship between photography and cinema (in collaboration with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival), as well as an international two-day conference with invited artists and academics aimed to explore the framework of the central exhibition (in collaboration with the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation).