Exhibitions

Through her sculptures, found objects, writing and films, Marina Xenofontos interrogates the material manifestations of memory and history. For her show in the Espace Projet, she explores the question of space, both virtual and real.

Ella Maillart (1903–1997) was an extraordinary adventurer, as well as a photographer and writer, who spent extended periods of time in Asia. In 2025, her entire body of work was recognized by UNESCO. Photo Elysée wishes to pay tribute to this exceptional woman by drawing on her photographic archives, which consist of several thousand photographs all held in the museum’s collection.

The exhibition, structured around Maillart’s four major trips to Asia in the 1930s, highlights the linkages between her images and her writing and explores how her photographic legacy adds to and perpetuates the memory of the world.

This major monographic exhibition looks at 25 years from the career of French photographer Luc Delahaye (b. 1962). His portfolio of work – from the war in Iraq to the war in Ukraine, from Haiti to Libya, and from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) conferences to COP (Conference of the Parties) gatherings – indexes many ways in which today’s world has gone awry. Delahaye’s practice combines documentary and art photography.

A former member of Magnum Photos, he became known for his war images in the 1990s. In the 2000s, he switched to large-format cameras – while still grounding his photographs in current events – and began showing his work in museums. This exhibition was created by the Jeu de Paume in Paris in collaboration with Photo Elysée and is being shown in Paris until 4 January 2026.

Sabotage ! by Italian artist Salvatore Vitale (b. 1984), considers the human cost of the gig economy. Through photographs, videos and installations, he points to the contradictions of digital capitalism, where the promise of greater freedom and flexibility simply masks the persistent inequalities of post-colonialism.

Teaming up with freelance workers in South Africa, Vitale asserts the primacy of human labor and proposes ways of countering the systemic exploitation underpinning platform-based work.

Vitale currently lives in Zurich. His works are held in several public and private collections and have been shown in contemporary art museums and festivals around the world.

Mounted within The collection, the display of the museum’s permanent collection, as well as in the MCBA Espace Focus gallery, the show French Painting 1800-1945. Anatomy of a Collection invites visitors to rediscover the many masterpieces of French painting conserved in the museum. These are pieces signed by a number of major French artists, including Corot, Courbet, Degas, Cezanne, Matisse, and Bonnard. It is also the chance to discover paintings that are rarely on view.

MCBA, in collaboration with the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, is presenting a major exhibition devoted to the work of Otobong Nkanga. Conceived in collaboration with the artist, it runs from 10 October 2025 to 23 February 2026 in Paris, then from 3 April to 23 August 2026 in Lausanne.

Hannah Darabi, winner of the 2025 Prix Elysée, delves into Iran’s popular dance scene with Why Don’t You Dance?

By combining photographs, videos and archival pieces, the artist shows how, depending on the social and political context, people – especially members of the Iranian diaspora – can use dancing as a way of expressing their identity and freeing themselves. Inspired by the autobiography of Mahvash, a leading Iranian cabaret figure of the 1950s, and by karaoke evenings at the Cabaret Tehran in Los Angeles, Darabi links past and present dance practices.

The Prix Elysée is an award created by Photo Elysée and Parmigiani Fleurier in an exclusive partnership.

Inferno & Paradiso is an immersive installation created by Alfredo Jaar (b. 1956), a fixture in the international contemporary art world. In this groundbreaking project, Jaar posits that the onslaught of images of human suffering is dulling our sensitivity.

Twenty press photographers from around the world were asked to select two images from their respective portfolios – the most painful one they had taken and a hopeful one. Through these images, shown as slide projections, the photographers take us on a journey through heaven and hell, just as Virgil guided Dante in The Divine Comedy.

This exhibition, co-produced with the cultural association On The Move, was developed for the Cortona On The Move international photography festival.

For his show in the Espace Projet, Lucas Erin presents a new series of works that explore the garden, its connection to the seasons and climatic variations, its changing meanings across different latitudes, its particular economy, as well as its place in specific histories and temporalities.

A scientist and musician by training, the Lausanne native Charles Blanc-Gatti (1890-1966) was a self-taught painter and filmmaker, as well as a major player in the ‘musicalisation’ of the visual arts. His work places us at the very heart of modernity’s progressive utopias.

Le MCBA présente la première exposition monographique consacrée à l’artiste étatsunien Ted Joans (1928-2003), auteur d’une œuvre foisonnante et inclassable, où se mêlent les influences du surréalisme, du jazz, du Black Power et du panafricanisme.

Photographers have trained their lenses on animals since the early days of the medium. In Animal model, Photo Elysée examines how their images have informed our attitude toward animals – how we love them, use them or seek to protect them.

The exhibition, organized by theme, invites visitors to reflect upon the role of animals in our visual culture and, ultimately, to question the borders between the human and animal worlds. The photographs on display consist of both major works and anonymous images, from the 19th through the 21st centuries.