Miami Art Week Features Photos by Refugee Women in Greece

A group of refugee women living in a camp in the village of Diavata near Thessaloniki, Greece have had their artworks displayed at Miami Art Week in southern Florida.

The project was put together by Art 4 Humanity and is being exhibited at One World Show. The collection features powerful photographs shot and modeled by the women themselves.

The women are refugees who’ve fled countries, such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran.

Diavata refugee camp is located 7.5 kilometers away from the center of Thessaloniki on the industrial outskirts. It is one of the refugee accommodation sites on mainland Greece that were established by law in November 2016.

Since spring 2018, the camp has received undocumented new arrivals from the land borders. Once described as a role model by former Migration Policy Minister Mouzalas, it is now one of the most overcrowded camps in the mainland of Greece. During the past three years, the camp has seen a series of protests.

Ferzane Naeemi, a 28-year-old, has submitted a photo called Strength to represent her difficult refugee journey.

“I left Afghanistan six years ago and came to Iran, and I lived in Iran for three years,” Ferzane told Page Six.

“Because of the problems that I had in Iran, I left the country with my family,” she said. “We tried to go to Turkey and the police of Iran caught us and sent us back to Afghanistan.”

She and her family then made it to Turkey and tried six times to go to Greece, but they were stopped by police each time.

“The seventh time we tried, we reached Greece,” Ferzane revealed.