Maria Papadimitriou

The ongoing research project of Maria Papadimitriou (*1957 Athens, GR) has its roots in her first visit to the Alviza quarter outside Athens. This district is mostly home to the socially underprivileged, many of which are Roma. Fascinated by the diversity and the individual social codes of the area, Papadimitriou returned many times to Alviza, establishing relationships with the locals and ultimately launching a project entitled T.A.M.A. (Temporary Autonomous Museum for All) in collaboration with Lucy Orta and curator Gabi Scardi. The photographs now in the possession of the EPO were presented in an exhibition on identities in Europe and represent two separate works completed within the context of Papadimitriou’s long-running T.A.M.A. project in the area of identity research. The Roma people, spread across all of Europe, often ostracised by the social majority, exemplify the nationalistic prejudices and campaigns of exclusion that trace a line though history and into the present.