Opening a new activist place in Exarcheia has a significant dimension.
This historic district of resistance to the dictatorship and today togentrification is particularly threatened by the Greek government and
developers. Squats evicted and migrants controlled, permanent presence
of police forces and muscular surveillance. It is against the current of
the urban transformations underway in the center of Athens that Eva and
Nicolas decided to launch a new solidarity and activist initiative in
this district[note]and have just opened a café-biblio, a meeting place
open to people that the government wants to chase away from there: La
Zone, rue Soultani 17 in Athens. ---- But let's start with my meeting
with the second of them, thanks to two activists from the FA of Nevers
who came to Greece with a solidarity convoy.
Drawing a portrait of Nicolas Richen is quite simple because it is
facilitated by the foreword of his book Les fleurs d'espoir d'un
terrible hiver grec. He explains to us how when he was a student in
Quebec, the Printemps Érable (the most massive student movement in
Quebec history) made him aware in 2012 of "our collective strength", the
basis of his political commitment. Which ultimately led him to Greece in
2016 "to learn, observe and participate in self-managed collectives".
It was in Ioannina (Epirus) that he met his accomplice, the photographer
Antonia Gouma, and they decided to draw a portrait of some "victims of
the austerity measures decreed in the early 2010s by European banks and
the Troika". A sulphurous context, aggravated by the rise of xenophobia,
fascism and the extreme right in reaction to the influx of refugees in
Greece. A series of photos "The cry of the street" then introduces this
series of live testimonies with the one dedicated to Anastasia, a
56-year-old divorced woman, a former art teacher "with a broken life".
Follow those of young people who are part of the "exodus generation", 4%
of Greeks, many of whom emigrated between 2008 and 2016.
So why did many of them - often students doing low-paid odd jobs to
survive - decide to stay, to continue fighting and not to lose hope?
This is what Sofia, the convinced, frank and passionate anarchist, or
Fotini, a shy and anxious young girl, in solidarity with the refugees,
will explain to us. Or Zografia, curious about the world but, unlike the
others, still trusting the electoral process and party demonstrations.
Between two series of photos, Nicolas tells us about his participation
in the march of November 17, 2016, in memory of the student uprising
against the dictatorship in 1973. An edifying insight into the presence
and repression of the police in Athens.
Next come the testimonies of Nikos, Manos, son of a worker, Ilirida,
originally from Albania, or Rania, who joined after the murder of a
police officer by Alexandros Grigoropoulos (15 years old) in 2008. All
trying to finish their studies, forced to do odd jobs and often to live
with their family.
But with what prospects for them? To escape the deadly circle of
capitalism, to reclaim language, to build a new collective imagination?
From the galley can be born many popular initiatives, free without
conditions and self-managed: from social kitchens, to residential
squats, to health clinics.
Finally, Nicolas takes stock of these testimonies "as so many echoes of
a hope beyond generations and borders".
We can also discover a more intimate Nicolas Richen in Des nuits et des
étoiles, feu et vagabondage dans la ville, his collection of poems
dating from 2022, dedicated to all the alley cats with the declared
objective of "sharing certain fragments of emotions and aspirations". It
could not be clearer. Excerpts:
The political commitment of Eva Betavatzi, the second person behind the
La Zone space, dates back to 2015, when she joined the Committee for the
Abolition of So-called "Illegitimate" Debts in Brussels, and then worked
there from 2018 to 2021. The "Greek crisis" was already well established
in Greece. Her meeting with Mamadou Bah, a Guinean activist who had been
lynched by Golden Dawn and had taken refuge in Belgium, was decisive and
forged Eva's conviction that the fight against illegitimate debt was an
integral part of the anti-colonial and anti-fascist struggle. At that
time, the last Nazi leader of Golden Dawn, a member of the European
Parliament, also moved freely in Brussels with complete impunity! Eva
then campaigned in Belgium in anti-eviction groups and for the
cancellation of rents during the first lockdown and then for the
reduction of rents in Brussels.
These experiences led her to Athens in 2021, but above all made her
think a lot about her first job as an architect. She now practices it
voluntarily in the service of causes other than commercial ones, such as
renovating in 2022, with Nicolas and other comrades, the ground floor of
one of the oldest Athenian squats.
Interview with Eva and Nicolas in the premises of La Zone
Is opening a new place of exchange in Exarcheia, in the form of a
café-biblio, an act of resistance to gentrification for you?
Yes, but we would first like to point out that the Athenian anarchist
movement is seriously lacking in space. One could say that it is "too
cramped" within the city walls. In addition, in recent years we have
witnessed a deprivation of spaces since the election of Mitsotakis and
the strengthening of gentrification. Many squats have been evicted since
2018-2019 and quite a few activist groups are struggling to find new
buildings and even to rent premises with the skyrocketing prices of rent
and electricity. From a more sociological perspective, the struggle and
survival of squats in Athens necessarily raise the question of the
multiplication of meeting spaces and conviviality, not only in
Exarcheia, but throughout the city, in order to effectively fight
against the expansion of all-out commercialization.
Opening such a place from scratch must represent a huge financial
challenge, not to mention the paperwork?
Yes, for La Zone, it is a bit of a "Do it yourself" challenge, because
we initially had only a very small investment budget. But in DIY, we
must include the real solidarity movement that was spontaneously
established from the start of the work. Thanks to the support of many
comrades and friends, we have acquired skills in painting, carpentry,
plumbing, electricity, etc. We have been able to count on the help of
the resourceful people used to squats, on our friendly relations, on
getting by, on spontaneous support, especially from other cafés in the
area. For transporting equipment and recycling: our arms, supermarket
trolleys and a car from Brussels! We also had to learn how to use a
coffee machine, do accounting and orders... other things that may seem
like trinkets, but are nevertheless crucial. For the administrative
side, yes, we can talk about a Kafkaesque journey, particularly in
Greece. Getting directions to the right procedure, the right office, and
especially the right tips so as not to get lost indefinitely in the
bureaucratic labyrinth, etc. Small and big hassles requiring a lot of
energy.
What does your stock of books and magazines include today? For the
moment, we have benefited from many donations, particularly from the
anarchist and radical left-wing milieu in countries such as Belgium,
France, Serbia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, etc. But also spontaneous
deposits from individuals, publications from neighborhood collectives,
press, literature, posters and even recipe books!
Why did you choose the name La Zone?
The story began when we were looking for premises in the Kypseli
neighborhood further west of the city where there is a street called
"Sainte Zone", hence the play on words. But for us, La Zone is also a
snub to the spaces for the bourgeoisie. But we can also see it as
"joyeux bordel" or even a reference to Zone à Défendre or a Zone without
borders! We chose a French word because we want to be a place of
expression mainly in Greek and French (and at most multilingual in the
longer term). Finally, La Zone fits well with the idea of DIY, the DIY
side and the warm aspect of a lounge to hang out without having to consume.
How did the inauguration go on September 7?
There was a lot of joy and it was to our great surprise that we managed
to gather about 80 participants. It was, it must be said, a great sport.
We had to improvise as bartenders and animators. People had brought
their favorite poems to read them. It was very positive, we received
gifts, people we didn't know bought books, a lot of exchanges and common
desires, plans for rebetiko evenings or film screenings, poetry evenings
or writing workshops, translation and collective learning...
Athens is a very large city, for you, is the atomization of places of
struggle a handicap or on the contrary an opportunity? And what do you
think of the Greek anarchist movement?
The atomization of the anarchist movement can be seen in a positive way
as an escape from centralization. Given what happened in Exarcheia in
recent years, it is not necessarily a bad thing. When you think that
today some "tour operators" allow themselves to visit the neighborhood
as if it were an "alternative" zoo, not to mention the voyeurism of
misery! But as for the Athenian movement, not all anarchist groups have,
far from it, the same conception of anarchy. Here we are witnessing
criticism from both sides of various groups. Some have a pyramidal
organization, for others it is less the case. There is also a problem
here with the machismo still very anchored in our circles. The same goes
for racism. This is the feeling shared with many queer or non-queer
comrades and those fighting with refugees. But what should be noted is
the real solidarity during the strong mobilizations, as was the case in
2022 when thousands of people, comrades, assemblies and anarchist,
autonomous and even left-wing groups took to the streets of the center
against the metro construction site on the only square in the Exarcheia
neighborhood and against the permanent presence of the cops. This is the
most recent period of massive mobilizations for the defense of the
neighborhood. The barricades were set up at least one evening a week and
nights of clashes took place. Today, the anarchists gather a little less
massively, the movement has lost space but also energy and the
repression is stronger than before, in particular because of the recent
revision of the penal code which authorizes the cops to do almost
everything. Athens remains a place where there is a lot of resistance
from below: something happens every day. But let us never idealize the
radical spheres, neither in Greece nor in France for that matter.
One last question, what are your dreams, your hopes?
Eva: it would be that the people from the last squats in the
neighborhood mix with other groups and activists, because since
gentrification, Exarcheia is no longer very welcoming for migrants,
especially with the constant police presence. For this, the
multiplication of meeting places and also self-managed living spaces is
more than necessary.
Nicolas: I don't like the term hope anymore, because it often locks us
into a wait-and-see attitude. I would be happy if our new space
contributed to creating new supportive and anti-authoritarian
relationships to build immediate actions, relationships of mutual care,
beyond all forms of borders. Living in such a metropolis and in an often
dystopian reality, it is this everyday neighborhood solidarity and
internationalist relationships that allow us not to go "crazy". Whether
in Athens or elsewhere in the world, queer, feminist, decolonial,
anti-racist/anti-fascist and eco-friendly struggles are intertwined.
This is what gives collective strength and a subversive joy to move forward.
Interview by Patrick Schindler, known as the Black Rat, individual FA Athens
Photos Nicolas Richen
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8043
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