This exhibition has no introductory texts to prepare the visitor. Its guide is literature. Excerpts from symbolic texts such as Kosmas Politis’ novel To Hatsiragos, inspired by the catastrophe in Asia Minor. As well as excerpts from the texts of Ilias Venezis, Stratis Myrivilis, Didos Sotiriou. In addition, testimonies of people who survived the tragedy, eviction, travel to Greece, adaptation.

The new periodical exhibition entitled “Opposite” of the Chios Mastic Museum of the Cultural Foundation of the Piraeus Group, located in Mastichochoria, in the south of the island, is breathtaking. It interferes with memories and feelings. Take a look at the comments in the guestbook and the numbers: in 14 days it was open to the public, with more than 5,000 visitors, 910 of them foreigners. Someone across the street…

An urban wedding dress, a gift from two sisters, Kyriaki and Katigos, who wore petticoats and white shirts embroidered with the “K” monogram but never married. Letters from the forehead, homemade notebooks, school notebooks, the key to the front door of the house, a lantern, identification cards, like those of Dimitris Smirnioudis, who moved the archives of the Greek post office of Smyrna to Chios.

The beautiful carved epitaph of I. N. Agia Paraskevi Krinis arrived by boat from Cesme. And the model of the ship that the audience sees is the same as the one that the children carried on the opposite side when they sang carols. As for the sewing machine washed up by the sea on Vrontado beach in the Daskalopetra refugee camp, it has its own story.

However, it is these life-size photographs of refugees who arrive at the old port of Chios with bags in their hands and despair in their eyes, when the visitor passes them, he wants to share their pain.

Five chapters on the life of the refugees before, during the tragedy and after, with objects and sacred relics provided by Chios Refugee Associations, local authorities, private collectors. This is one of the reasons why this exhibition is so touching: it is full of truths and experiences. Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federation of Hellenic Refugee Associations, it reveals the refugee element of Chios and what it brought to local history.