
Ce qu’il se passe, Lesbos 2020
- Publisher
- GwinZegal
- Year
- 2021
- ISBN
- 9791094060322
- Specifications
- 19 × 24 cm
180 pages
In 2020, photographer Mathieu Pernot visited the island of Lesbos several times. Located in the Aegean Sea, a few kilometers from the Turkish coast, this island has experienced a succession of crises in 2020 which make it a nodal point in our history and our consciousness. Place of the adventures and conquests of Ulysses and Achilles, this territory plunges into the heart of Greek mythology and European identity. Due to its geographical location, Lesvos has always been a place of passage for people wishing to reach Europe. Since 2015, the Moria camp has served as an administrative registration center and waiting area for tens of thousands of refugees from numerous countries at war (Afghans, Syrians, Congolese, Somalis, etc.), and has found itself at the center of the European question on the reception of refugees and the right to asylum. Described as hell on earth, the camp experienced, in January 2020, a level of overpopulation never before reached and was then hit by the Covid epidemic. In September, it was completely destroyed by a fire started by refugees revolting against their fate. This book tells the scale of this new tragedy, combining the artist's photographs and images taken from videos sent by the refugees with whom he established a relationship, and thus constitutes a unique document of what is happening.