#drapetsona

[metrocentric]

Δραπετσώνα / Drapetsona

[greekstreetart]

Achilles

Drapetsona - Piraeus

[elladastinkardiamou]

Greece's crisis-hit poor: 'No one was bailed out here'

Stavros Manikas, who has lived in one of the poorest suburbs of Piraeus for more than 35 years, scoffs when asked if Greece's decade-long crisis is almost over.

A rawboned 53-year-old, the bus driver and union activist's shoulder-length grey hair shows streaks of blonde and black. Manikas sits cross-legged on his billowy couch and carefully rolls a cigarette on his lap.

"The crisis hit the area so hard that no one throws out food any more," he tells Al Jazeera. "That's why you don't even see people digging in dumpsters here."

Asked how the crisis impacted his own life, Manikas looks up and says sternly: "Everything changed."

Although Drapestona has long been a poor and institutionally-deprived area, the crisis hit the cash-strapped residents harder than middle-class and comparably well-off neighbourhoods in Athens and Piraeus.

Speaking alongside left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in April, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker declared that Greece would "be a normal country" by the end of the summer.

In Drapetsona's narrow, coiling alleyways and cluttered streets, few people see cause for hope as the European Union and the Greek government promise the country is only months away from exiting its prolonged economic crisis.

Deserted factories and shuttered small businesses are testament to the jobs that left the area. The windows and doors of many homes are boarded up.

Meanwhile, homelessness, drug use and prostitution have grown increasingly visible, Manikas says.

With a son at university and another completing his mandatory military service, Manikas and his wife have struggled to make ends meet. Since 2010, he has seen his salary cut by nearly 55 percent.

[konstantinossonitnatsnok]

Λοςτ Βοδιεσ

[greekstreetart]

Dreyk The PIrate

Drapetsona - Piraeus

[greekstreetart]

Yiakou

Drapetsona - Piraeus

[greekstreetart]

The Fox And The Crow

Alessio Bolognesi created his mural for Athens Street Art Festival curated by Andreas C Tsourapas and a team of passionate individuals believing in art’s power in our world.

The mural borrowing its name by the tale of the well known ancient greek storyteller Aesop called “The fox and the crow” was created on the wall of a primary school about 12 x 3m long. The way Alessio Bolognesi manipulates his diverse techniques to achieve the desirable outcome like this geometric pattern combined with illustrative figures is loud enough for us to pay attention in order to receive the deepest message of his efforts, the moral of the tale. This wise tale with its double meaning show us on the one hand how a flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to him, while on the other hand it is a demonstration of how smartness and cleverness are fundamental skills to survive.

Drapetsona, Athens 2018

[greekstreetart]

TRAZ - Drapetsona ATHENS

With 10 years long experience in graphic design, inspired by the street art movement and alternative music scene, Stephane Koyama-Meyer, also known as Traz, creates interesting visual combinations of bright colors and drawings. He likes to play with letters and chose sentences, so-called motivation quotes, borrowed from philosophers, poems or even hip hop lyrics. With the aim to spread the positive mindset, Stephane wants to give the public the break from their everyday routine.

Athens Street Art Festival Greece 2017