Georgios Katsagelos: Relics to Eternity at Moni Lazariston

Greek photographer Georgios Katsagelos presents 'Relics to Eternity' at the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Moni Lazariston, Thessaloniki, until September 9, 2017. The exhibition documents the Idomeni refugee camp on the border with North Macedonia, which was sealed in 2016. Katsagelos photographed the camp during its operation and returned a year later to collect abandoned objects—children's toys, shoes, clothing—left behind when refugees were hastily evacuated by Greek police in mid-2016. These items are displayed in plexiglass cases after conservation. The show also includes a video interview with displaced people. Katsagelos links the camp's closure to the November 13, 2015 Bataclan attack, after which only Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees were admitted, prompting Iranian refugees to sew their mouths shut in protest. The museum building was inaugurated in 1997 for Thessaloniki's tenure as European Capital of Culture and houses the Costakis collection. It will host the 6th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art in late September 2017.