Additional information
by Katerina Angelopoulou (Author)
On 23 July 2018, in the North East of Athens, Greece, one of the deadliest wildfires ever recorded took place. The Fumes of Mars brings together testimonies of survivors, state reports, wildfire specialists, and topographical information with photographer Katerina Angelopoulou's images of her personal experience of the event and its aftermath.
Photographer Katerina Angelopoulou spent her summers in the area as a child, and it was the home of her parents. The fire rushed from the hilltop, jumping over the pine trees, and to the edge of the sea in less than an hour and a half-swallowing everything in its path. The Fire Department, and the Civil Protection failed to respond to the situation; an evacuation plan, or even a rushed warning was never executed and the necessary forces to battle effectively the fire or rescue people never dispatched to the area. The fire spread to the east, engulfing several small towns. Locals and passers-by were abandoned by those same structures that were there to protect them. The artist, her mother and her three-year-old daughter were trapped at the shoreline with several others for many hours before help finally arrived.
This book is the result of a research project that brings together testimonies of numerous survivors and information from the State Investigator Report and the ongoing trial including wildfire specialists, topographical information of the area, and Angelopoulou's images.
Author Biography
Katerina Angelopoulou is a Greek visual artist currently based in Athens. She maintains a lens-based practice that explores the relationship between space and narratives through long-term research projects. An exploration that expanded and developed during her decade long scenography practice, and evolved into incorporating a different medium. Her work often utilizes public oral archives, fragmented narratives and the spaces they inhabit to retell stories that have been silenced or misrepresented.
