Crossings – Outcast Europe

Crossings: Transcribing memories of fleeing and displacement

Aiming to give space to the experience of migration across borders, not only geographical, but also gendered, voluntary or imposed, we address this literary call and invite you to ask yourselves: Who are the owners of the objects in the Outcast Europe collection? Who has lived through these stories? What are their feelings and situations, what intersections between identities have they crossed? Through writing, you become those people.

The story of a pair of children’s shoes

"The year is 1995. The place is Yugoslavia. One Croatian man, Dalibor, had enough with the constant threats that the Yugoslav Wars presented."

The amulet

"Dear Aise, if you are reading this letter, it means I am no longer alive. I hope that you, my sister, are healthy. Don’t fear Ali. He cannot hurt a fly."

The scarf

"They arrived at a place that she had never seen before, the moment they entered, though, and saw all the people gathered inside, she figured out it was a bunker."

Vessel

«This is a copper vessel designed for desserts. It came all the way to me through my grandmother.»

Fallen

«You know no beginning, but, yes, I do. I have no ending but neither do you.»

Toy – Tank

«It was a morning like any other and Abu was helping his sister to carry water from the nearest well. Suddenly they heard a scream.»

Children shoes

«I remember myself walking with dried-up tears on my cold cheeks, it was an endless road the one we chose.»

Leather wallet

«The sun high up in the sky burns the streets of Athens. A woman, thirty years old give or take, is stepping into the store.»

Grandma, you forgot the secret!

"I was a little girl. Eleven years old. I lived with my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather and my two sisters in Smyrna, the most beautiful city to ever exist on this world."

The watch

"He encountered harsh weather, difficult terrain, and the constant threat of being caught by immigration authorities. But the watch reminded him of why he was making the crossing and gave him the strength to keep going."

The vase with Yugoslavia’s map

"It was snowing and the wind was blowing. Zarko and his family got on the train to Munich, leaving Belgrade behind. Among their belongings there was a vase with the map on Yugoslavia on it."

The pocket watch

"Did anyone know her here? Did she know them? For she was never called by name. «The old woman», there she was, «the old woman on the bench»."

Water

"I had jumped down from that rock, I didn’t let them find us."

Into the lion’s mouth

"Beneath the lion busts, Vassilis had his first kiss. At the cemetery."

Chryssa

"She lives with her dog and cannot decide if she wants to break up with Michalis or move in with him. In high school she wanted to be a veterinarian and she was a good student, but then again who knows what life holds for them?"

Football tickets

'It was Friday so I had to be home soon in order to get ready for the game. I didn’t pay attention to my friends waving goodbye as I was leaving and thought: «until Sunday…»."

In between midnight thoughts

"I’ve taken caravan rides watching cellophane horizons unfold before me."

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