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Austerity & Democracy in Athens pp 39–54Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

This Is Not a Myth

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Abstract

This chapter leads us into the heart of the neighbourhood, through its main entrance: Exarchia Square, whose darker and brighter sides are both exposed. The myth of rebellion transformed into urban reality comes across firstly in the square’s spatiality, from its triangular-shaped perimeter to its internal pedestrian area. A swarm of social spaces populates the neighbourhood, each of them associated with a distinct political identity. Yannis Felekis, a long-lasting and still tireless activist, brings us back to the days when “there was only one kafenion on the corner”, thus recalling the origins of Exarchia’s anti-authoritarian history. An iron statue of three Erotes dominates the square, a sort of guardian or totem watching out over the complexity of this free space.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Designed by Kyriakoulis Panayotakos, the Blue Building actually consists of two independent six-floor buildings, which are joined together at the top floor. On the flat roof, in addition to the service areas, the Greek architect created a lounge for the building’s inhabitants, giving them a place for social contact.

  2. 2.

    Nikolas Asimos was a Greek composer and singer, whose lifestyle and songs were often seen as provocative by the public. While politically he could be classified as an anarchist, he never accepted being set within a specific ideology. Born in Thessaloniki, his life and career were, however, entirely connected with Exarchia, where he died in 1988, committing suicide in his home in Kallidromiou Street. Among other films, he features in O Drakoulas ton Exarchion, directed in 1983 by Nikos Zervos and considered a milestone in Greek underground culture of the time (Libcom 2010).

  3. 3.

    Yiannis refers to the notorious “Aretì” (virtue) operations, launched between October 1984 and May 1986 in order to “cleanse” (as was claimed by police at the time) Exarchia of undesired population, such as “marginal” youths and the most dangerous political figures.

  4. 4.

    This genre of music was born at the turn of the twentieth century in the slums of Greece. The songs tell stories of poverty, prison, love, social problems, drugs and prostitution, in a passionate and sometimes sad, sometimes ironic or humorous way (Holst 1975).

  5. 5.

    A squat of clear anarchist orientation, it is located in the neighbourhood of Kipseli, near the Kyprou-Patission Park. Evicted on January 2013, Lela was eventually taken back by the squatters, unlike the other two anarchist social centres, Villa Amalias and Skaramanga , raided by the police in the same period (Atene Calling 2013, Keep Talking Greece 2013a, b).

  6. 6.

    Located on Acharnon Avenue in the district of Victoria, Villa Amalias was squatted by a group of Athenian punks in 1990, after police evicted them from the previous occupied building found a short walk from Syntagma Square and that, incidentally, now hosts the offices of the Onassis Foundation (Villa Amalias 2006). “Villa Amalias was once a school, abandoned for almost two decades before squatters occupied it in 1990. The anarchist squatters worked to conserve the neoclassic building, and importantly opened it to the community as a self-organized social centre. Villa had a small concert hall where, to a great extent, the Athenian punk scene of the 1990s was shaped. It also housed a print press run by Rotta collective. Rotta printed many of the political posters that cover the walls of central Athens. Allegedly, to stop the posters’ print press was a main objective of the authorities during that operation. More recently, the anti-fascist squatters have comprised a protective element for the migrant communities in the neighbourhood who have been attacked by the neo-Nazis. On January 9, 2013, the squatters reoccupied the building for a few hours before police special forces re-evicted the building, arresting the ninety-two occupiers and charging them with felonies for having their faces covered; allegedly none of the group had covered faces” (Dalakoglou 2013).

  7. 7.

    Owned by the Pension Fund of merchant navy crews, it was located on Patission Avenue, just two kilometres from Villa Amalias and halfway between the Polytechnic and ASOEE. From 1999, Skaramanga was squatted and run by a mixed group of anarchists and anti-authoritarians. “A few hours after the re-eviction of Villa Amalias on the afternoon of January 9, the police, in a public demonstration of power, evicted another large central Athenian squat, the Skaramanga squat a few blocks away from Villa. Skaramanga has a different story than Villa Amalias . It is a historical offspring of the December 2008 revolt. Also run by an anti-authoritarian collective, Skaramanga had a rich library and large rooms where talks, film screenings, and other events were organized. It also housed the only artificial climbing wall in central Athens, while yoga and martial arts classes were provided weekly, to mention but a few of the activities, all these of course gratis. From time to time, the squats would organize benefit events to raise money for building maintenance, but otherwise their activities were located outside the commercial nexus. Skaramanga was additionally another part of the local anti-Nazi infrastructure, as its residents and the participants of the various activities participated actively also in the anti-racist activity in the area” (Dalakoglou 2013).

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  1. La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Monia Cappuccini

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  1. Monia Cappuccini
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Cappuccini, M. (2018). This Is Not a Myth. In: Austerity & Democracy in Athens. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64128-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64128-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64127-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64128-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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