What connects 8 citizens? What is the meaning of the Greek or German identity? What does the human identity consist of? These are the questions highlighted by the “Connect the Dots” photo exhibition.

1st and 2nd generation immigrants from Greece, German citizens, as well as Iraqi refugees that entered Europe through Greece, share landmarks of their life course as parts of a greater answer. The camera reveals the thread that connects places and experiences and, thus, brings people closer.

“Connect the dots” presents the participants’ portraits, as captured by Sebastian Seibel, and life stories, as shared to Alexia Stouraiti. Every portrait is a match to a personal story, but stories and portraits are misplaced, to give you the chance to guess which is whose by… connecting the dots!

“Connect the Dots” was an exhibition under the fellowship of START – Create Cultural Change program in 2018, in which Greek cultural managers could realize their own projects in Germany. The aim of the project was to break down stereotypes, intrigue the audience, and invite everyone to understand the need of thinking twice before putting a label on people based on their appearance or citizenship. The exhibition prepared the ground for the facilitation of a Restorative Circle, so that the society of Pforzheim could express thoughts and feelings triggered by the exhibition. The “Connect the Dots” project was presented as a restorative practice in the community in the 17th Victim – Offender Mediation Conference in Berlin.

At the vernissage of the digital exhibition “Connect the Dots – A Retrospective” we look back along with the initiator Alexia Stouraiti and the participants of the photo exhibition, and wonder: what has changed? What has remained the same? What challenges do the participants and the community face today?

Alexia Stouraiti LLB, MSc, is a mediator and psychodramatist, member oft he Centre fort he Study of Social and Humantirian Crises, member of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, and PhD candidate in Social Work at the University of West Attica.