NOW YOU SEE ME MORIA

Moria is the largest refugee camp in Europe. We don’t know much about it – journalists or photographers are not allowed in, and emergency workers assisting more than 20,000 refugees cannot take photographs. These records were captured by residents of Moria and edited by professionals from around the world. Now we can see Moria – it remains for us to do something for Moria.

Situated on the Greek island of Lesbos, Moria is the largest refugee camp in Europe. It is overcrowded and living conditions are inhumane. However, we have access to few images from there.

The photographs, posters and videos shown here are the result of photographs – photographs taken by four residents in Moria and shared by Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/now_you_see_me_moria/ ) thanks to the initiative of a photo editor residing in the Netherlands. The horror and pain he saw were enough to motivate a campaign – an open call drew hundreds of graphic designers from around the world and resulted in a collection of posters adorning windows, walls and galleries around the world (https://nowyouseememoria.eu/gallery ).

The photographs show the day-to-day life in Moria, the conditions that, despite being miserable, allow moments of unexpected beauty. The posters made on the basis of these photographs show and express fury and impotence, but they are above all a frontal accusation of failed European policies on assistance to refugees.

Policy change is absolutely necessary. That is the goal of Now You See Me Moria, a campaign of committed people. These photographs and posters show a situation that has long been unsustainable – multiple international and European agreements have proved insufficient to improve the quality of life for people in these refugee camps while hundreds of thousands suffer from a system that repels and excludes people.

Coordination: José Guilherme de Almeida

Curation: Tiago Rosado

Personal testimony of the coordinator of this exhibition:
“My name is José Guilherme de Almeida, a citizen of Viseu residing abroad. Throughout my life I grew to learn that injustice was a constituent part of the world. However, over time I realized that this knowledge, in itself, was useless – we are able to face injustices, but with that we become responsible for solving them. The problems that exist in Moria are a reflection of the great oppressive currents that displace people all over the world, which compel us to normalize misery as something inevitable. This exhibition is not the solution to the problem: it is just raising awareness of the problem – it is now necessary to solve it, take it to the figures and political administrations capable of doing something, it is necessary that whoever sees these posters takes with them the disgust that is to see people like us suffering like no one else has to suffer. Now we see Moria – it remains for us to do something.”

BIO |

Now You See Me Moria is a project composed by Noemí from the Netherlands, Amir, Ali and Mustafa from Afghanistan, Qutaeba from Syria, graphic designers like Raoul, street artists, political scientists and many, many others. More information about this project, including the many posters prepared by the hundreds of graphic designers who participated in this project can be consulted at https://nowyouseememoria.eu.