Yinka: Rhymes under Pollution

Manolis, a.k.a Olayinka or MC Yinka, as most people know him, is a Nigerian, 2nd-generation immigrant who was born and raised in Athens, Greece. His African roots, interwoven with his Greek upbringing, make Yinka a unique voice in the downtown music scene. A well-respected MC, he works with various bands ranging from ethnic fusion to jazz and pop. He also plays with dub veterans Direct Connection and has his own band, Urbanix. Recently, his neighborhood has been a battleground for tensions between a growing racist neo right-wing youth and the numerous immigrant inhabitants of the area.

With all the madness that surrounds his dilapidated neighborhood, he manages to rise up above the pollution, inspired by the things he sees, using his lyrics as weapons to fight against the discrimination that permeates his world and stand up for the rights of his people.

From a distance

Manos and Evdokia came to Kythira at different times. The couple left Athens for different reasons. Soon after their arrival, the island with its ways, grew on them. They became part of the micro-cosmos of this magical place, which floats on the border of the Aegean and Ionian Seas.

Kithira is a very active yet remote little island with a new hospital, an airport, beautiful beaches, ancient ruins, and active trekking and paintball clubs. Evdokia works as a school teacher and Manos works as a civil engineer.

Both of them take life as it comes and are not afraid to try new things. Evdokia and Manos are part of a growing trend of young people questioning the values of our consumerist society and look for a more simple and meaningful way of life.

Radical Youth

Marchers singing anticapitalist Soviet anthems and university theatres packed to watch Communist Germany black and white movies; Either History evaded Greece and the Berlin wall never fell or it is in the making in a Greece shaken by protests and rage against the political and economic elite. Radical leftist movements, all the spectrum covered, got about 30% of the votes in the November 2010 local elections. These groups are renewed with hundreds of angry and frustrated youngsters for reasons that escape the understanding of the casual visitor. Teenagers, sometimes as young as 12, throw stones against the Parliament, brand hammers, and justify the use of Molotov cocktails as valid means of protest. At a time when Greece has achieved its higher level of economic development, how does one explain this anger? Is this movement specific to Greece given its historical particularities or is it a signal of the rise of more active and aggressive leftist protest movements?

Mother

The Cyclades, the famous Greek Islands, receive thousands of visitors every year, arriving in search of some fun and relaxation in the green-blue waters of the Aegean Sea.

However, Tinos attracts a different kind of visitor. Believers from Greece and all around the world come to worship the Holy Icon of the Virgin Mary.

The Icon of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, found in 1823 after a vision of nun Sister Pelagia, is considered by believers to be miraculous. Pilgrimage to this icon is the most important orthodox peregrination in Greece.

Crowds of people visit the island throughout the whole year to pray before the Holy Icon, bearing offerings and requests, or thanking Her for Her holy intervention. The pilgrims ascend on their knees from the harbor to the Icon. The testimonies of believers express human pain and agony, but also faith and miracle.

Insomnia

The carefree, exuberant nightlife that Athens has had a reputation for has gradually lost its gloss. The economic pressures of the past few years don't seem to have affected some of the capital's clubs and bars. However, a much darker and seedier side of the city has grown. In the shadows of the narrow and winding streets of the historic center, junkies, often immigrants, numb their pain.

The thumping bass rumbles in the cement downtown, as 60 Euro carnations shower the spotlight-lit pop stars on stage. The night is long and so is the reach of the canvas of the city. The members of the newish Dias motorcycle police squad patrol its asphalt arteries, often risking their lives while navigating through the crooked streets. At the edge of Athens' crust, a controversial new rubbish dump has caused the locals of Keratea to erupt in a series of often bloody confrontations with the riot police.

The city lights flicker, humming to the vibration of the people's energy, as some dance, some sleep, some guard, some protest and some wonder the streets aimlessly, trying to cure their insomnia with a camera.