In Greece, the voices of the historic inhabitants of the islands collected before their speech disappears


Letter from Athens

Tourists on the island of Mykonos, Mykonos, Greece, July 18, 2021

Paros, Amorgos, Koufonissia, Iraqleia, Schinoussa, Naxos, Mykonos, Lesbos, Ikaria, iOS, Mylos, Crete, Karpathos … For more than a year, Aris Katsigiannis, photographer and director, has crossed the Greek islands, in the middle of winter, with his brother and a friend to collect the testimonies war, misery and Greece before the explosion of tourism. Until now, the thirties has interviewed fifty-two retirees, living in countries that are often not very accessible out of season, at Hours de Boat from Athens, administrations and public services. On social networks as InstagramWhere he is followed by more than 126,000 followers, his short videos are entitled “their stories before they disappear”.

On Mykonos, the island of Jet-Set and the party, Aris Katsigiannis met Irini Marti, 87 years old. “In Mykonos, there was poverty at the time. Now there is a lot of luxury, villas… ”Note the octogenarian, who had to marry young with a man chosen by his father. At 19, she gave birth without the presence of a doctor on the small island of the Cyclades. In Ikaria, Marika Moula, 94, stresses that she has never been at school. “At that time, we said to you:” What good is it to go to school? ” You are a girl, it won’t serve you ””she says. It was only later, with her children and grandchildren, that she learned to write. On this northern island of the Aegean Sea, Marika Moula admits that she had lived: “Why have money? What you need in life is love. This is the only thing that really has value ”She notes facing Aris Katsigianis’ camera.

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