Grande Hotel

Presented at FineArt Igualada, Grande Hotel is a photographic project by Héctor Mediavilla that reflects on the layered history of one of Africa’s most emblematic buildings.

Once conceived in 1955 as the largest and most luxurious hotel on the continent, the Grande Hotel in Beira—Mozambique—was built as a symbol of colonial ambition and modernity. Its life as a functioning hotel was short-lived. Abandoned in the years following independence, the building gradually transformed into an informal living space, now inhabited by hundreds of people.

From Monument to Living Space

Mediavilla’s work explores this transformation, moving between past and present to reveal the contradictions embedded in the site. The hotel stands as both a ruin and a place of infrastructure shaped by failed utopias, but also by the everyday resilience of its current inhabitants.

Through this lens, Grande Hotel becomes more than a specific location. It reflects broader questions around memory, displacement, and the basic human need for shelter.

FineArt Igualada Context

Within the framework of FineArt Igualada—a festival dedicated to photography and visual arts—the project was presented in the Sala de les Encavallades at the Museu de la Pell d’Igualada.

As part of a wider programme bringing together multiple artists and perspectives, the exhibition contributed to an ongoing dialogue about documentary photography and its capacity to engage with social realities across different contexts.