I DID NOT COME, I LEFT | presentation of the mural work, screenings, talk, dj set
20 June 2024, 19:30 Kypseli Municipal Market, Counterpoints (GR) & Døcumatism
With: Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Samir Karahoda, Georges Salame, Alexandros Simopoulos, Fjorida Cenaj, Døcumatism, Forensic Architecture, Latent Community
Visual artist Alexandros Simopoulos, who has an extensive experience of developing large scale art in public space, will be creating a new work in the Kypseli Municipal Market. The work, taking the form of a mural, will be created through a participatory process involving young people from Kypseli, reflecting the values of dialogue and meaningful exchange. The work is the result of an ongoing collaboration with Døcumatism and is based on their research project ‘the AfroGreeks’.
An integral part of this piece is the portrait of Keita Alassane, presented alongside the accompanying video Keita-the Afrogreeks. Keita left the Ivory Coast as an unaccompanied minor. He eventually ended up working for many years as a mediator in the Municipal Market, supporting many of those who came after him. The realistic depiction of Keita’s portrait intertwines with a seemingly incompatible element – the sunset on a beach in Gaza, Palestine, which invites us on one hand to dream, to immerse ourselves in the comfort of a beautiful landscape, while urging us on the other hand to reflect, to not forget or look away.
This artwork is linked to a series of events that will take place on June 20th, 2024, World Refugee Day, in the Kypseli Municipal Market. The opening event, featuring a discussion around the “ENHANCING THE VOICES” report, is organized by the Greek Council for Refugees and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. The discussion will be followed with a screening of works which, through different research and artistic approaches, negotiate nuances of ‘home’ as the place of living, homeland and identity. Migration, nostalgia, loss as a consequences of war or climate crisis, belonging and coexistence within local communities are some of the issues presented through the works of Døcumatism, Forensic Architecture, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Latent Community, Samir Karahoda, Georges Salameh and Fjorida Cenaj.
Counterpoints Greece, a contemporary arts organization, returns to working in public space with a new programme taking place in Kypseli. The programme is presented in the framework of Refugee Week Greece 2024 and its theme of “Our Home”.
Programme
19:30 Discussion, ENHANCING THE VOICES
Marking the release of “Enhancing the voices of those who are affected by the migration and asylum policies of the EU” report, this event features a conversation with fellow citizens from refugee and migration backgrounds. Organised by the Greek Council for Refugees and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
21:15 Short presentation of the works and start of the screening
-> Program (total duration 64’)
NË MES (IN BETWEEN) (2019), Samir Karahoda, 14 minutes
Brothers and sons who live abroad build identical houses to express equality and unity in family. An empathetic portrait of the families that, by economic necessity, spend much of their lives separated and scattered across different countries and cultures.
Neromanna, Latent Community (2017), 8:15 minutes
The work focuses on the story of a village in Fokida, Kallio, whose inhabitants were evicted in 1969, prior to the creation of an artificial lake that submerged their village in 1981. Τhe lake was the result of the construction of the Mornos dam, now used as a water reservoir for the city of Athens, Greece.
Claw Machine, Georges Salameh (2023), 14 minutes
Claw Machine explores the experience of uprootedness. Fragments and words. The unspoken, the indescribable. Memory shaken. Eyes closed. The city is under siege. Drift towards the unknown. The dilemma: resistance or migration? Mediterranean voyages of no return.
Alex_the AfroGreeks, Døcumatism & Menelaos Karamaghiolis(2020), 7 minutes
Alex, one of the protagonists of “the Afrogreeks” project redefines the meaning of homeland and identity through looking at how journeys from and to Africa redefined Kypseli as an autonomous, multiracial landscape that stands analogous to freedom and acceptance, becoming his “homeland”.
Lule Jeta, Fjorida Cenaj, 7:07 minutes
A personal video-portrait by Fjorida Cenaj, who explores her relationship with her mother through filming her mother’s rituals in the bathroom of their house.
Executions and mass graves in Tantura, 23 May 1948, Forensic Architecture (2023), 14 minutes
A research project of FA, focused on the executions and mass graves in the Palestinian village of Tantura, south of Haifa by the Mediterranean Sea, which was occupied by Israeli forces in May 1948, 75 years ago.
Followed by a DJ set by Nikos Thomas
Credits
Participants: Fjorida Cenaj, Døcumatism, Forensic Architecture, Samir Karahoda, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Latent Community and Georges Salameh
Production: Dorothea Kritikos, Ilirida Musaraj, Grace Nwoke, Precious Obediah, Stavros Triantos
Curated by: Almir Koldzic, Niovi Zarampouka-Chatzimanou
Organizers: Counterpoints in Greece in collaboration with Døcumatism
Copyright of photographies by Døcumatism, Alexandra Masmanidi & George Spanos.