A year has passed since the nightmarish day of July 23 at Eye, where 102 of our fellow human beings breathed their last in the most horrible way. A black scene that gives birth to pain, a sad anniversary that no one will be able to forget but no one should ever stop considering as an opportunity for actions that will help the region and its people to continue their lives.
Among those who come to offer are 45 painters, sculptors and photographers from the greater area of Nea Makri and Rafina. Some of them lost their homes and workshops, but certainly not their hope. Joining forces and presenting their works at the group exhibition held at the Ramada Athens Attica Riviera Hotel in Mati, from 20 to 26 July, with the aim of selling them to financially support the burn victims fire.
At the same time, they want to send a message of optimism, which is why the title they gave to the exhibition is "I Live Again", expecting on the one hand that their culture and initiative will work healing on the souls of those who lived the nightmare and another that they will be able to contribute financially to the recovery of people who have seen their lives change dramatically in a matter of minutes.
"Seeing around us the pain, the desolation of the area, the tragic situation experienced a year after the deadly fire by the burn victims and the indifference of those in charge, we thought that we must fight alone to help our fellow citizens as much as possible, but also to give a message of hope and optimism for the future. "In war, everyone fights with the weapons they have," says the curator of the exhibition, Mr. Mimikanna Anastasaki.
How did she live the fateful night herself? "Personally, I did not experience this evil up close, but I experienced the anxiety of knowing that someone of yours lives there and of not being able to communicate with him. On the last phone call I heard my sister friend shouting: We are burning… the house is burning… Screaming…. And then silence. I was looking for her for endless hours. No phone was answered. Of course I was not allowed to go there. There was a war going on! An "undeclared war". "Almost at dawn the phone rang and I learned that everyone was alive. The house burned down completely."
"Joining forces we want to convey through this exhibition a strong message. Nature is reborn from its ashes. Man has the same ability. "Together and individually we will hold our heads high and move on for a better tomorrow."
The testimony of Mrs. is also characteristic. Foulis Mitsiali one of the artists participating in the exhibition: "I was in the flames from the first moment, I was in serious danger of burning twice. The first in my attempt to cross the burning landscape and the second trying to help put out our burning house. "Unfortunately, our forest and our house burned down completely."
"The art teaches us that creation always starts from scratch, so destruction becomes the occasion for a new beginning, that is, a new creation. Nature is the first to give us the example of the struggle for rebirth. I lived up close all these months trying to bring the earth back to life and I was impressed to see how quickly green and color took the place of black and gray ".
Η Pascaline Bossu who participates in the exhibition and lost her house from the fire says that art gives hope. "After the tragedy, the death, the loss, art shows us the way to the continuation of life. Purification can come through a work, as with Picasso's Guernica ". As for the message she would like to give through her work is that "After flames and fires, life begins again through the ashes."
Newsbeast.gr asked Ms. Karyda Marina member of the coordinating committee of the residents of the area dealing with burn victims to give us a picture of their condition. What he told us was a punch in the stomach.
"94 adults and 32 children were treated for mild to very severe burns. Of these, 18 ended up in hospitals and many remained hospitalized for months. Among them is Mrs. Penelope who after 8 months of hospitalization, was transferred to a rehabilitation center and still remains there. Due to the infections she lost both her kidneys and is undergoing dialysis day after day. Also, about 30 people are still struggling daily with their burns and their effects that on many have worsened the general functioning of their body.
People who until the noon of July 23rd were driving, walking, swimming, turned into addicts who need help with their daily lives while many go in and out of hospitals. "Some people still have to do several surgeries which concern the functionality of their members, regardless of issues of aesthetic restoration".
Ms. Karyda emphasizes that "some burn victims, in addition to the fight for their own health, also mourned their people, parents or life partners. So, apart from their struggle for life, they also have to fight with depression, the pain of their soul ".
"The simple daily life for the burn victim and his environment acquired additional requirements. For example, they can not move while in the sun, they must be washed with a special soap, use sterilizing materials and make changes during the day, smear every now and then with special moisturizers, wear silicone sheets and pressure clothes that are difficult to put on. alone and also hardly tolerate them in the summer. And all this to cost a small fortune, which is not covered by the state and their insurance company, but by charities and volunteer-private struggle to secure them.
"Burn recovery is a time consuming process and these people are struggling for the next 2-3 years," he concludes.
Informations
The exhibition "Xana Zo" is presented July 20-26, 2019, at the hotel RAMADA ATHENS ATTICA RIVIERA, at 55-57 Poseidonos Street, in Mati
Opening: Saturday, July 20, 2019 at 8.30.
Exhibition editing : Mimikanna Anastasaki
Participating in the exhibition (in alphabetical order):
Visual artists: Eva Anagnostou - painter, Erietta Bordoni - painter, Pascaline Bossu - painter, Aida Carbone - painter, Stamatis Giannakopoulos - architect, Nikos Deligiannis - sculptor, Tania Dimitrakopoulou - painter, Riccardo Di Laurovos Th , Diane Katsiaficas- painter, Irini Komninou - painter, Lou Kotsomiti - painter, Costas Lakis painter, Maritsa Lalioti - painter, Athena Latinopoulou - painter, Katerina Loza - painter, Fouli Mitsialo - painter, E, painter M Mata Bertoli - painter, Aspasia Bourha - painter, Alkistis Papadantonaki - painter, Marianna Pourgali - painter, Tita Stavrou - painter, Dimitra Sotiriou - painter, Michael Tupay - painter, Sissy Tsalpatourou - student A. Caviar Elsermans - painter, Penny Chondrogianni - painter
Photographers: Viviana Athanasopoulou, Efthymios Aliferis, Evridiki Vlachaki, Vassilis Vrettos, Tassos Vrettos, Sissy Davri, Sevasti Drakouli, Spyros Misokoilis,
Photo trips: Kazagli, Katerina Manousi, Chloe Mavroudi, Nikos Bliziotis, Vassilis Papageorgiou, Dimitris Skareas, Dimitra Sotiriou, Stergios Chourikis