An exhibition chronicling the refugee camp on the island of Samos, Greece, through a series of photographs taken by boys and girls aged 12 to 17 who live there. The exhibition will be on display from October 3rd to 25th at the Emigrant Museum, in the historic center of San Marino, where the Emigration Research Center of the University of the Republic of San Marino operates.
The project, titled "Through Our Eyes," will introduce visitors to an initiative developed by the school for refugee pre-teens and adolescents opened in 2018 by the NGO "Still I Rise," which curated the exhibition. At the end of a photography workshop, each student received a disposable color Kodak camera with which they recounted their lives outside of school, capturing, for example, piles of garbage, containers flooded by rain, refugee protests against camp management, cafeteria lines, and women waiting for 14-hour periods for medical appointments. But also the sea, the hills, the trees, and moments of excitement in discovering Europe and its culture.
The exhibition's opening date, scheduled for 17:45 PM next Thursday, was chosen to remember the victims of the shipwreck that occurred on October 3, 2013, off the coast of Lampedusa, as well as all the refugees and migrants who continue to die in the Mediterranean Sea and at Europe's borders while seeking protection. The exhibition is expected to be attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Nicola Renzi, the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Guerrino Zanotti, and former Captains Regent, Matteo Fiorini and Enrico Carattoni. In 2018, as heads of state, these two visited the reception centers on Lampedusa, accompanied by Pietro Bartolo, to whom they presented a San Marino honor (Knight of the Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha).
"We believe that the testimony, in this case expressed through photographs, of young people who directly experience a migration journey and live in hotspots where they await discovery of their future should be highlighted," explains Patrizia Di Luca, director of the Emigration Research Center at the University of San Marino. "The exhibition aims to offer all of us the opportunity to experience the reality of contemporary migrants through their eyes."
The initiative is sponsored by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Education and Culture. It will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 18 p.m., every day except Monday, at the headquarters located at Contrada Omerelli 24.
