UTSTILLILNG: AT THE GATES / IN TRANSIT

Drømmen om et bedre liv i Europa får unge flyktninger fra krigsherja områder i Midtøsten og Nord-Afrika til å risikere livet i farlige reiser over grenser og hav. Møtet med et Europa preget av økonomisk krise og sosiale problemer blir for mange av dem et helt annet en forventet.

De to finske fotografene Erik Åhman og Harri Joensuu har dokumentert situasjonen som venter flyktningen i det kriserammede Hellas og i deres eget hjemland Finland. Fotoseriene er del av et større forskningsprosjekt om unge asylsøkeres levekår i Europe i regi av Future Lab Europe.

Utstillingen åpner lørdag 18. april kl. 14.00 i hovedsalen på Deichmanske hovedbibliotek, og vil i første omgang stå ut måneden.

At the gates

Migrants and refugees seeking a better life in Europe are crossing the mediterranean in all time high numbers. Italy, Spain and Greece have become the gatekeepers of fortress Europe.

Those "lucky" enough to reach Greece face a harsh reality. Given its geographical location it is hard to get in, but even harder to get out of the country. Other European nations want Greece to keep its backdoor closed.

With the economic crisis still out of control and unemployment levels reaching all time high, Greece is unable to provide shelter for the people who need it. The number of undocumented migrants in Greece is believed to be at least 500 000, but the real number might be much higher. The insecurity of the situation have turned many Greeks to vote for the Golden Dawn, a political party not even hiding its nazi ideology.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international have both issued reports on the situation in Greece. Racial profiling, excessive violence and inhumane prison conditions are some of the problems.

Dionisis, a 32 year old greek man was attacked by members of the Golden Dawn party. They beat him up and used a broken beer bottle to cut a swastika to his forehead. They accused him of betraying his country for being a leftist.

"Show people what the nazis did to me so they know who they voted for" Dionisis says.

The photographer

Erik Åhman is a 24 year old documentary photographer from Vasa, Finland.

He graduated from The Sweden School of Photojournalism in the spring of 2014.

During march and april 2014, Åhman photographed the daily life of migrants living in Athens, Greece. He found hatred and xenophobia, but also hope and solidarity.

In transit

Asylum seekers in Finland may get an initial decision quickly, but in many cases the process is long and riddled with court proceedings and appeals. Many of the families and individuals awaiting asylum may have been in the country for years, fully integrated and supporting themselves, but are still in a state of insecurity. Those granted asylum are on the contrary very hopeful and relieved to be finally able to settle down.

Harri Joensuu spent time photographing asylum seekers in Finland during year 2014. Through these photographs each individual and family wanted to share their stories and reach the public discussion. Their stories are of the most humane kind.

Yurik from Ukraine spent his first two days in Finland swimming for hours and hours. "I just love to swim" says Yuri.

Harri Joensuu, born in 1985, is a documentary and commercial photographer from Tampere, Finland.

This exhibition is a part of "Fortress Europe from a youth perspective". Made possible thanks to funding from Fritt Ord and the European Alliance for Democratic citizenship.

http://www.futurelabeurope.eu/fortress-europe-from-a-youth-perspective.html

A policy paper with the findings from the project will be presented later on in the spring.