Action Book

Vroege, Bas | Paperback / softback | tijdelijk niet leverbaar | 9789082870848

Now You See Me Moria

Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos, is the largest refugee camp in Europe. It is overcrowded and living conditions are inhumane. Apart from the fire in September last year, hardly any images get out. Journalists and photographers are not welcome and emergency workers are not allowed to take photographs. Yet, these posters are the result of photographs. They were made by four residents of the camp and saved and shared via Instagram on the initiative of a photo editor living in the Netherlands. She put her horror and pain about what she knew and saw into action. An open call to graphic designers worldwide resulted in 449 different posters that downloaded and printed on Valentine’s Day 2021, and adorned windows and walls in countless places around Europe.

The photos show the daily life in the camp, the miserable conditions but sometimes also the unexpected beauty. The posters made on the basis of these photos depict and express anger and impotence, but are above all an indictment of the failing European refugee policy.

Change of that policy is absolutely necessary. That is the goal of the international collective Now You See Me Moria, a multicoloured company of committed people demanding immediate change of EU migration politics. Photos and posters show that the situation in the refugee camps on the edges of Europe is untenable. International agreements and rules are simply band-aids to stop the bleeding. Hundreds of thousands suffer from a system that repels and excludes people. 

Now You See Me Moria features Noemí, a Spanish picture editor living in the Netherlands, photographers Amir, Ali and Mustafa from Afghanistan, Qutaeba from Syria, graphic designers like Raoul, street artists, political science students and a growing number of others.