STATEMENT:Our Land Is The Sea

In early March when I received this photo, which is the opening image of the corresponding theme in our Magazine, with the memories and images that I carry as a human who has experienced migration both in personal but also in country level, I was wavered (!) It called me into question, thinking the change of use of natural resources, such as water. Like the sea that for the Greeks was and is one of the most important elements of our existence. Sea is calming and fondling us, can travels us and entertains us, even if the sea is directly connected to the relaxation and joy of life can suddenly morph into a nightmare. A nightmare that swallows our dreams and the dreams our fellow human beings, as suddenly sea becomes an extension of land and becomes a “new earth”. In an area based in architecture,  besides this is the interesting, as defined through by the exhibition but also from this image, on the one hand takes the lead the over-development and wastefulness of the environment to a dangerous point and on the other is highlighted the roll-over of the balance between internal and external. Thus, the Public Space is temporarily transformed into a House and the private-home (all of those who are removed away from it), turns into empty-Public, a space ready for those who take advantage of the situation for material gain. A fact occurred largely the last decade in Greece due  the economic crisis, but also in Germany in the previous decade, for exactly the same reasons. The consequence of all this is that the security will eventually be lost  and will be replaced by objects  that will act as sacristies of memory and hope(!)–Efi Michalarou

Photo: José Pedro Alvarez, Surfing and the city, Figueira da Foz, Gliding Barnacles, 2016, Photo, © José Pedro Alvarez, Courtesy the artist and Garagem Sul-Centro Cultural de Belém Foundation