Yahoo – AFP,
12 March 2016
 |
Syrian Nour
Alkhzam, 24, plays the piano during a concert organized by Chinese
artist Ai
Weiwei at the Greek-Macedonian border near the Greek village of Idomeni,
on
March 12, 2016 (AFP Photo/Sakis Mitrolidis)
|
Chinese
dissident artist Ai Weiwei set up a white grand piano in a muddy, rain-drenched
refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Saturday, allowing a young Syrian
woman to tinkle the ivories for the first time in years.
Performing
in the pouring rain under a plastic sheet held up by Ai and others, 24-year-old
Nour Alkhzam, who is hoping to reach her husband in Germany, played for 20
minutes in a field at the Idomeni border camp, where 12,000 migrants and
refugees are stuck in grim conditions.
"This
is our attempt to create an opportunity for this lady," Ai said at the end
of the impromptu performance.
"She
has been victimised by these wars. She has not had the chance to touch a piano
in three years. She and her husband have been separated for one-and-a-half
years."
He added
that watching her play was "very touching".
"It
tells the world that art will overcome the war," he told reporters.
The stunt
was the latest in a series of projects by Ai to shine a spotlight on the people
caught up in Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.
"We
want to reveal a new image of them, to relay possibility, art and imagination.
This is the image that needs to be relayed to the world," he said.
Greek
authorities estimate that 12,000 people are stuck at the camp at Idomeni, but
thousands more are camped out in fields nearby, waiting in vain for the border
to reopen so they can continue their journey north.
 |
Ai Weiwei
has been a noted supporter of refugees in recent months and
condemned European
politicians' handling of the situation (AFP Photo/
Sakis Mitrolidis)
|
Macedonia
and several other countries on the migrant trail have sealed their borders over
recent weeks, leaving the Greek government to struggle with a huge bottleneck
of people stuck on its territory and forced to camp in increasing squalor.
Ai, a thorn
in the side of China's Communist authorities, has repeatedly spoken out in
support of refugees and denounced European politicians' handling of the crisis.
Last month,
he draped thousands of lifejackets discarded by migrants arriving in Greece
around the columns of Berlin's Konzerthaus concert hall.
And in
January, the artist closed down an exhibition of his work in Copenhagen in
protest after lawmakers passed a controversial bill allowing authorities to
seize valuables from asylum seekers.
China's
most prominent contemporary artist, Ai helped design the Bird's Nest stadium
for the Beijing Olympics and has been exhibited around the globe, but his works
have often run afoul of China's authorities.
He was
detained in 2011 for 81 days over his advocacy of democracy and human rights as
well as other criticisms of the government in Beijing.
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