In every revolution somebody needs to clean the toilet

Refugee Plaza
After refugees have finally found a place to situate themselves for a while, hopefully, living in a semi-safe and perspective place. There will be people against them for being there. They might not know if they want to be there. People will support them as well, wanting to help and others will want to understand them.
Even when accepted in a society; they are still put in a box. They’re stuck with an image people have of them. You can not nót have an opinion about refugees.
In some places they might get overwhelmed by all those interested. The ones against and in favor and all in between. Whatever is their opinion, many people want something from them.
Even though I am aware of this; I’ve been trying to get an honest image of refugees. An insight view. Their living situation and perspective of the future.
Therefor, I have been searching for refugees.

Athens, Greece

Squat
I have to push myself inside. I’m standing in front of a squat around Exarchia where a lot of refugees live. When I have found my courage, I go inside. On the left in the back there are some couches and on the right there is a black woman sitting alone. I ask her where she’s from and explain her that I am working on a project on refugees and would like to interview some people. She leads me to some young people sitting on the couches. They are from Syria. After I tell them what I’m here for and ask if they would talk to me, answer a few questions; there is a long silence.
A guy points at a girl “She wants to”. They laugh and the girl says it might be better if I’d come back another time, later on that day or another moment.

City Hall
Because I typed in “city hall” in stead of “city plaza” in google maps, I find myself in a square. Omonia. I can not find the hotel where refugees live; the City Plaza. There are a lot of people of different nationalities sitting on the square. When I walk away from the square, a guy starts talking to me “hey super model!” I look at him and ask if he knows the hotel. He never heard about it. I don’t remember where he comes from, but he is not a refugee. He tells me that on this quare a lot of refugees come together. Also friends of him, who will be there in about one hour.
I go to a café to have a coffee and look up the right adress of the City Plaza.
In about an hour I arrive back at the square. The guy tells me his friends didn’t arrive yet, and that he’s actually here selling marhiuana.
I walk around the square for a little while and ask a young guy who’s standing there with some friends where he’s from. He’s not a refugee.
I continue my way to City Plaza.

City Plaza
When I enter the old hotel, there’s a man sitting behind a table. I tell him about my project and he leads me to the reception, one floor up. I have a conversation with the girl behind the desk about this place. She explains me a little bit about the people living here. She says many journalists, interested people, and also artstudents come here to do a project with refugees. So some refugees might not feel like cooperating with them anymore. She tells me to please try, and to be discrete. I think about the videocamera in my bag, and how I could use it secretly. But I don’t think that’s what she is talking about.
There is a communal space. I can enter the café and the kitchen on the first floor. But not upstairs, that’s where people live. I sit down and have a coffee and take in the space. There are people talking, guys are playing backgammon. On my leftside and across the room around a couch there are some extremely white and West-European looking, young people.
It gives me a strange feeling to sit there and see them, I get this feeling I usually get when I think about West-Europeans who are volunteering in a foreign country.
After my coffee I walk up to two guys sitting at a table talking together. I tell shortly about what I’m doing. They are from Syria. One of them tells the other one something in Syrian and the other one tellls me he could talk to me for my project, but not right now because he has to work downstairs at the security. We decide to meet tomorrow at 4 o’clock.
I’m back at City Plaza.
The refugee didn’t show up. I don’t have any coins for a cup of coffee, that drips extremely slow out of a machine. The guy at the bar tells me I can come back later to pay for it.
I sit down in one of the very comfortable chairs. A German blonde guy asks me for a cigarette and I ask him if he’s Dutch. He sounded Dutch to me. He’s reading Siddartha and lives in City Plaza. He teaches refugees and cleans the toilets. “It’s like a village”, he tells me. “There are vertical villages and horizontal villages. This is a vertical village.”
“People forget that in every revolution somebody needs to clean the toilet.”
He tells me this is a very nice place, to live as well. Many people from different cultures live here, many refugees, but not only. Actually anybody could live here, if there’s space. For single men it’s a little bit more difficult. Anyone can come here to do something. “If you come here and start cleaning something, nobody would make a problem about it.”

Refugee Plaza
Searching refugees
After refugees have finally found a place to situate themselves for a while, hopefully, living in a semi-safe and perspective place. There will be people against them for being there. They might not know if they want to be there. People will support them as well, wanting to help and others will want to understand them.
Even when accepted in a society; they are still put in a box. They’re stuck with an image people have of them. You can not nót have an opinion about refugees.
In some places they might get overwhelmed by all those interested. The ones against and in favor and all in between. Whatever is their opinion, many people want something from them.
Even though I am aware of this; I’ve been trying to get an honest image of refugees. An insight view. Their living situation and perspective of the future.
Therefor, I have been searching for refugees.

Athens, Greece

Squat
I have to push myself inside. I’m standing in front of a squat around Exarchia where a lot of refugees live. When I have found my courage, I go inside. On the left in the back there are some couches and on the right there is a black woman sitting alone. I ask her where she’s from and explain her that I am working on a project on refugees and would like to interview some people. She leads me to some young people sitting on the couches. They are from Syria. After I tell them what I’m here for and ask if they would talk to me, answer a few questions; there is a long silence.
A guy points at a girl “She wants to”. They laugh and the girl says it might be better if I’d come back another time, later on that day or another moment.

City Hall
Because I typed in “city hall” in stead of “city plaza” in google maps, I find myself in a square. Omonia. I can not find the hotel where refugees live; the City Plaza. There are a lot of people of different nationalities sitting on the square. When I walk away from the square, a guy starts talking to me “hey super model!” I look at him and ask if he knows the hotel. He never heard about it. I don’t remember where he comes from, but he is not a refugee. He tells me that on this quare a lot of refugees come together. Also friends of him, who will be there in about one hour.
I go to a café to have a coffee and look up the right adress of the City Plaza.
In about an hour I arrive back at the square. The guy tells me his friends didn’t arrive yet, and that he’s actually here selling marhiuana.
I walk around the square for a little while and ask a young guy who’s standing there with some friends where he’s from. He’s not a refugee.
I continue my way to City Plaza.

City Plaza
When I enter the old hotel, there’s a man sitting behind a table. I tell him about my project and he leads me to the reception, one floor up. I have a conversation with the girl behind the desk about this place. She explains me a little bit about the people living here. She says many journalists, interested people, and also artstudents come here to do a project with refugees. So some refugees might not feel like cooperating with them anymore. She tells me to please try, and to be discrete. I think about the videocamera in my bag, and how I could use it secretly. But I don’t think that’s what she is talking about.
There is a communal space. I can enter the café and the kitchen on the first floor. But not upstairs, that’s where people live. I sit down and have a coffee and take in the space. There are people talking, guys are playing backgammon. On my leftside and across the room around a couch there are some extremely white and West-European looking, young people.
It gives me a strange feeling to sit there and see them, I get this feeling I usually get when I think about West-Europeans who are volunteering in a foreign country.
After my coffee I walk up to two guys sitting at a table talking together. I tell shortly about what I’m doing. They are from Syria. One of them tells the other one something in Syrian and the other one tellls me he could talk to me for my project, but not right now because he has to work downstairs at the security. We decide to meet tomorrow at 4 o’clock.
I’m back at City Plaza.
The refugee didn’t show up. I don’t have any coins for a cup of coffee, that drips extremely slow out of a machine. The guy at the bar tells me I can come back later to pay for it.
I sit down in one of the very comfortable chairs. A German blonde guy asks me for a cigarette and I ask him if he’s Dutch. He sounded Dutch to me. He’s reading Siddartha and lives in City Plaza. He teaches refugees and cleans the toilets. “It’s like a village”, he tells me. “There are vertical villages and horizontal villages. This is a vertical village.”
“People forget that in every revolution somebody needs to clean the toilet.”
He tells me this is a very nice place, to live as well. Many people from different cultures live here, many refugees, but not only. Actually anybody could live here, if there’s space. For single men it’s a little bit more difficult. Anyone can come here to do something. “If you come here and start cleaning something, nobody would make a problem about it.”