XENITIA BY ETIENNE AUDREY BRUCE

Xenitia is an archive, centered on displacement to Greece. It is framed by two motifs: “nostos” (Classical Greek; to return home, homecoming) and “algos” (Classical Greek; pain, grief). Together, these affect-laden words form the root of “nostalgia”. “Xenitia” itself is a Greek term that encompasses the state of being a foreigner, otherness, estrangement, loss, distance, and a profound yearning for home soil.

The collection, which was made in 2016, produces a complex mosaic of movement and feeling within Greece. In 1923, a treaty was drawn up between the governments of Greece and Turkey which forcibly displaced millions of people from their homes. Recent economic hardship in Greece has produced a fresh wave of emigration. At the same time, hundreds of people fleeing war and persecution at home arrive on Greek shores every day. Xenitia elicits comparison between the local and the universal, conjuring similarities amongst diverse experiences.

A percentage of profits are being donated to Habibi.Works, a free-to-use, community-organised maker space bringing together asylum-seekers, international makers and Greek locals to share knowledge, skills and experiences.

Essay: Sophie Sheera
Text part 1: Zakariia Sabbagh, Ahmed Rashid Yoonso, Mohammed Abu Marasa,
Amer Alhaj & selected interviews
Text part 2: traditional polyphonic songs of Epirus & selected interviews