A picture of my mother

My mother in her late twenties. My guess is that she is on her way to Styra in Evia.

Artist's studio

The house of Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, on 3 Kriezotou Street, donated to the Benaki Museum by the artist, now a museum.

The artist started living in the house in the 1950s. He lived on the fifth floor and used the sixth floor as his studio, a large area divided into different sections:

the sitting area

with bare concrete pillars, concrete ceiling, brick walls

a closer look at the painting on the left

the area to the right of the previous picture

and books everywhere.

Additional shelves in a small adjacent room which served as a library

the entrance to the library

a closer look at the painting from the previous picture

a section of the area where the artist painted

a closer look at the painting on the left from the previous picture

artist's materials arranged against one wall

detail.


Going down the stairs to the fifth floor and the artist's living quarters, some paintings on the wall:

Dimitris Galanis, Pines at Saint-Raphael, 1928 (woodcut)

Dimitris Galanis, Panther (woodcut)

Pablo Picasso, Composition with Nudes (etching and collage on paper).  Apologies for the reflection but it could not be helped

Pierre Bonnard, Paris, 1937 (copper engraving).

 

Living in a state of fear

Fear is one of the predominant emotions if one lives in Greece at the moment. Fear of losing one's job, if one is lucky enough to have one; fear of not being able to make ends meet; fear of not having enough to pay the ever increasing taxes that are imposed by a state that cannot deal with tax evasion of the rich and which consequently imposes a whole series of taxes on the whole of the population irrespective of their income or ability to pay; fear of not having enough fuel to heat one's home; fear of losing one's home because there is not enough to pay the rent or the bills; fear of hunger; fear of being beaten up or worse if the colour of one's skin is not white; fear of the rise of far right groups and what this could lead to;  fear of the future.

'Dear God, hunger scares me'.


But, all of this fear is not enough for the Greek state. It has to manufacture more fear.

This new fear is the fear of lawlessness.

Not the lawlessness of the Neo-Nazi party who assault MPs on live television; who ride their motorbikes at night and beat up or murder anyone they can find whose skin is not white; who wreck the stalls of small vendors; who constantly disrupt the workings of Parliament; who parade with their Nazi insignia and use the Nazi salute; who spread their message of hatred and division. These people are ignored by the Greek state. They are not punished for their crimes, they are not prosecuted or denounced. They are left alone which is tantamount to being encouraged. The government is not making any connections between the rise of this group and what happened under the Weimar Republic. They are acting as if this group did not exist.

No, the enemy that has to be smashed, the enemy that has to be beaten with riot police, tear gas, batons and other weapons, the enemy that we must all fear, the epitomy of lawlessness, are... groups of young squatters.

The squat in the dilapidated Villa Amalia building, inhabited by squatters for over 20 years was raided and dissolved by the police last month. When it was re-occupied, the police again evicted the squatters. Other squats got the same treatment. Police announced they found empty bottles in the squats, a clear indication we are told, that they were going to be used to make molotov cocktails. They also found knives and gas masks, more 'evidence' that the people in the squats were planning an insurrection against the state and the Greek people. The police had to abandon a further raid on another squat, since they had neither the prosecutor's nor the owner's permission to enter the building and since they could not find any 'evidence' that the place was a centre of 'lawlessness'.

'A democratic society cannot allow the forces of lawlessness and chaos to block the country's path to development' announced Mr Dendias, the Public Order Minister, the same one who threatened to sue The Guardian newspaper when it published a report on the torture of 15 anti-fascist activists by the Greek police.





Most of these buildings are owned by the state, and like everything else that is owned by the state in Greece, they were falling apart. The Greek state has an inverted Midas touch - everything it touches turns into ruin.

In contrast to what we daily hear in the news from the government with their talk about lawlessness and the danger to public life that these squats present, the people living in the area tell a different story. 'When this building was occupied by the squatters 23 years ago, it was falling apart, it was a ruin', say Mr and Ms K. who have a shop facing Villa Amalias. 'We can still remember the sign outside the building in the 1980's that read:  'this building is about to be restored' - but nothing was done about it. When the squatters arrived, they spent days clearing all the rubbish out. They made the building habitable, they gave it a new identity'. 

The squats were used as community centres bringing locals and immigrants together: there was a coffee bar where payment was voluntary; a lending library; lectures and concerts; a printing press where payment was again, voluntary; music and sewing lessons were available as well as Greek language lessons for those whose first language was not Greek - all for no renumeration; there was also a soup kitchen.

Residents attest to the fact that drug trafficking was kept at bay in the area because of the presence of the squatters. But more importantly, the residents feel that it was the presence of the squatters that prevented the Neo-Nazis extending their stronghold from Agios Panteleimonas where they terrorize the inhabitants, onto the Plateia Victorias area. What they fear now is that with the squatters gone, the Neo-Nazis will extend the range of their activities and become unstoppable.

This is what Syriza had to say about the evictions: 'The government is trying to use the attempted re-occupation of Villa Amalias to distract the public from the Lagarde list scandal and the harsh bailout policies. For 23 years no one cared about Villa Amalias and now it has turned into the number one issue'.

The biggest fear, the one that no one is addressing, is the rise of fascism. Far right terrorism is becoming embedded in the very fabric of Greek society. It has penetrated every neighbourhood as well as the schools.  It promotes violence, hatred, division and bullying as a way of life in every aspect of society. Resistance to this evil cannot be left exclusively to the Left. Those who say that they are defenders of democracy will have to get their fingers out instead of demonising some young idealists who want to try alternative ways of living. We're on the edge of the abyss. The Barbarians are amongst us and unless we neutralise them we will be faced with the end of democracy.

For more information about Greece and lots more on current affairs, go to:   http://99getsmart.com

Yannis Tsarouchis

Yannis Tsarouchis - Studies for 17 Themes

at the Benaki Museum, Pireos Avenue Annex.

A member of the Armos Art group which was established in 1949, Tsarouchis' took two different directions: towards the orientalist and sensualist with a strong influence from Matisse, and towards the ancient Greek ideal as expressed by the Renaissance and Baroque movements. His art is consequently a synthesis of the technique he learnt from the Impressionists whilst he was in Paris in the 1930s.  It also comprises elements of classical Hellenic sculpture and vase painting but also includes elements of the Byzantine art that represents the oriental side of the Greek aesthetic. Present in his work are also traces of folk art, as in  weaving and shadow theatre. These constant references to Greece's past and present, from ancient sculpture to folk art, formed his vision, reflecting the complexities of Greece's identity. They were blended together because of his desire to express the many ingredients that comprised 'Greekness'.

His depiction of sailors, often painted in the nude which abound with homoerotic references was seen as controversial and as demeaning to the Greek male and were taken down by censors. Similarly, some of his paintings were seen as iconoclastic and condemned by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.

Much of his early work was designed for the theatre and the opera. He took this work up again while in exile in 1967 while waiting out the years of the military dictatorship and designed sets for productions in La Scala, Covent Garden as well as the Avignon Festival. On return to Greece in the late 1970s he designed a set for Franco Zeffirelli's Medea at the Epidaurus theatre.

The exhibition is presented through studies and variations aiming to reveal part of the process that the artist followed to complete his paintings and as such was very interesting: a blend of his allegorical winged figures, his representations of the months and the seasons, as well as his neoclassical coffee shops.

I cannot do justice to the exhibition in this post: there is no exhibition catalogue, and we were not allowed to photograph, so the photographs I did manage to take are very limited.

First Portrait of Despina, aged 18, in Maroussi, 1967

Despina, photographed by Tsarouchis in Paris in the 1970s

Despina, photographed by Tsarouchis in Paris in the 1970s

Despina Wearing a Pink Dress, Athens 1977

Despina with Coral Necklace and Fur Coat, France 1974-75

Portrait of Despina, Paris 1970

'In order to convey the personality of the sitter I was interested in depicting, I used every technique that was known to me. My objective was not to imitate the Fayum, but to portray living characters and their mystery. The portrait of Despina was based on a study in oil'.

Dominique, photographed by Tsarouchis, Chartres, France in the 1970s

Study for Spring (Dominique) Paris 1971

Study for Summer (Dominique), Paris 1971

Study for Summer (Dominique), Paris 1971

Study for Autumn (Dominique), Paris 1971

Study for Winter, Paris 1971

Dominique Playing Bouzouki, France, 1972-73

'This is an exercise obviously influenced by the Dutch painters and in particular Vermeer. I don't think it's a bad idea to follow a painter's style, as long as you work from life. If you work by simply imitating the paintings of the old masters, your technique might improve, but, you will lose something more valuable than technique itself'.

Kavrokefalos Coffee House, Paris, 1971.

The ugly face of racism

Racist thugs riding their motorbikes at night, looking for another victim, is becoming a common phenomenon on the streets of Greece. The latest victim was a Pakistani worker who was murdered while on his way to work in the early hours of Thursday January 17th. The racists stabbed him to death.  Neighbours who heard his screams managed to get the bike's number plate and alerted the authorities who have arrested the perpetrators. The following were found in the house of one of them: Neo-Nazi leaflets, bullets, an airgun, knives, batons. So, despite the fact that the Greek police are trying to persuade us that the murder did not have a racist motive, the evidence suggests otherwise.

Will they be punished? That is a good question. To this day no perpetrator of a racist attack has yet been prosecuted in the Greek courts. The authorities are turning a blind eye to racist violence and it is estimated that 50% of the Greek police force voted for the Neo-Nazi party in the last elections. Victims are discouraged from filing complaints if they have been atttacked and are threatened with detention by the police.

Amnesty International has issued a report condemning Greek authorities for their inability to tackle racist violence.





Here are some figures which are only the tip of the iceberg given that most of these crimes are not reported.  87 cases of racist violence were reported in the period between January and September 2012, 50 of which were serious. 80 of those were carried out in public places.





The case of Mr Kapetanopoulos who witnessed four policemen savagely beating an immigrant is an example of the racism of the Greek police. Mr Kapetanopoulos felt compelled to ask the police why they were beating a man who was already on the ground. The result of his query was that the man was beaten even more savagely and Mr Kapetanopoulos was charged with four offences: giving false testimony; resisting arrest; attempting to kidnap a suspect; being an accomplice in a robbery. Commenting on the vindictiveness of both the police and the prosecutor, Mr Kapetanopoulos' lawyer made the point that the aim of all of this is not the prosecution of his client, but the wish to instil fear in the population so that they don't respond to and condemn racist violence.





It is not just immigrants who are the victims of racist abuse. As part of the Xenios Zeus government initiative to detain and arrest illegal immigrants, hundreds of people of colour have been stopped, detained and in a lot of cases, beaten up by the Greek police. (You can see more on Xenios Zeus, here , here , here and here ). The criterion is the colour of one's skin and consequently tourists have been stopped as well and in some cases, beaten up. Korean backpacker Hyung Young Jung was stopped by a scruffy looking man in a street of Athens. Thinking it might be some sort of scam he politely dismissed the man and walked on only to be stopped by a man dressed in police uniform a few moments later who asked him for his passport. Mr Jung showed his passport but also asked to see identification - he got a punch in the face instead. Within minutes he was on the ground being punched by the police officer and the man in plain clothes. He was then dragged to the police station and punched again before being led inside. A third attack occured on the stairs where there were no witnesses or cameras. When he was released a few hours later as he was leaving the police station, one police officer shouted: 'hey Korean, go back home'.

Mr Ukwuorji, an American citizen was also arrested despite the fact that he showed the Greek police his American passport. He was beaten up in the police station so badly that he passed out. Mr Ukwuorji has, with the help of the US Embassy, lodged a complaint. Six months later he is still waiting for an outcome.

In May last year, a visiting academic from India was also detained when he popped out of the University to get himself some lunch. Despite protestations from his Greek colleagues who witnessed the arrest, the police took him to the police station.

More than 60,000 people have been detained since operation Xenios Zeus was launched in August of this year, but only 4,200 people were found to be illegal immigrants - the rest were released.





As a consequence of  this, the last four months have seen a huge rise in the anti-racist/anti-fascist movement in Greece. There are over 400 organisations in cities, towns, even small villages, workplaces, educational institutions, all determined to stop the rise of this campaign of hatred. On the 12th of December, when members of the Neo-Nazi party threatened immigrants who owned small shops in Korydallos in Athens, 3,000 anti-fascists very quickly assembled and barred their way.





History has taught us that in times of austerity and economic crisis, the far right and its message of hatred gathers support. The rise of the far right in Greece, coupled with the racism of the majority of the police force and a state that is at the point of collapse, is a recipe that can only lead to disaster. It is not enough to condemn racism. Words are not sufficient anymore - action is needed.






Hasan was attacked in Athens by black-shirted men on motorbikes who knocked him unconscious. When he came to he was covered in blood. Only later would he realise that the men had left large gashes resembling an X on his back. Photograph by Giorgos Moutafis.
http://infomobile.w2eu.net/2012/11/24/racist-attacks-in-greece-a-fotoreportage-in-progress-by-giorgos-moutafis/



Sources:

• The Tourists Held by Greek Police as Illegal Migrants, by Chloe Hadjimatheou, BBC News, 10.1.2012
• Kyriakatiki
• To Vima
• Kathimerini

Photographs:

Giorgos Moutafis, The Migrants' Odyssey, http://www.giorgos-moutafis.com/projects-migrants-odyssey.htm



For more information on Greece and lots more on current affaits, go to: http://99getsmart.com/