Critical Tourism

Critical tourism is aimed at modelling a critical discourse that challenges the commercial strive for mono-culture of tourism in Croatia and elsewhere, and its consequences on cultural, social and spatial development.

The exhibition presents a selection of works by artists created in production or co-production with the association gray) (area - a space for contemporary and media art based in Korčula. These works reflect on various—mostly negative—consequences of tourism, with a focus on the understanding of a community’s shared resources, such as public space and infrastructure.
The artists explore the theme of tourism by directing attention to the ethics, poetics, and politics of space. Their methodologies can be applied as case studies to similar tourist locations and destinations worldwide.

The exhibition, curated by Darko Fritz, opens on Saturday, July 12 at 8 PM in the Big Hall of Pogon Jedinstvo. Participating artists include: Boris Cvjetanović, Jana Dabac, Vitar Drinković, Katerina Duda, Darko Fritz, Dina Gligo & Vedran Gligo, Igor Grubić, Božena Končić Badurina, Andreja Kulunčić, Jelena Lovrec, Maja Marković, Edita Pecotić, Ivan Ramljak, the Reciplaža project (Valerija Jurjević, Sanda Hančević, Darko Fritz), Ilija Šoškić, and Vice Tomasović.

On the one hand, grey) (area seeks to actively include contemporary local and international creativity within the existing framework of so-called cultural tourism, which primarily relies on traditional contents of cultural heritage. With the programme of artistic residencies, production of works in Korčula and personal presence of artists and guest curators in programme implementation, grey) (area contributes to active participation of artists, whereby it displaces them from the passive position of a tourist. On the other hand, through one of the programme lines entitled Critical Tourism, grey) (area presents a selection of artistic works and projects reflecting on various, primarily negative consequences of tourism, with emphasis on the concept of common goods of a community, such as public space and infrastructure.