Al Jazeera | 08.05.2017
‚This is like a zoo and we’re like animals,‘ says one refugee as others say a ‚mental war‘ is being waged on them.
by Patrick Strickland
Elliniko, Greece – Mohamed Asif Ostadazimi points to his paintings and sketches, explaining each one. We are in an old supply room that he has turned into an art studio in the Elliniko refugee camp in a suburb of the Greek capital, Athens.
„This one is like Jackson Pollock’s work,“ he says, motioning in the direction of a canvas covered in a kaleidoscope of colours. Pollock is his favourite artist, and Ostadazimi vows to one day visit his home.
Lifting an accusatory finger towards a canvas that depicts a woman’s eyes peering from behind a fence, he says: „That is here [in the camp].“