Corridor X - Postscript to an Unfinished Journey - SOS Halkidiki

This Postscript to an Unfinished Journey - SOS Halkidiki by Angela Anderson and Angela Melitopoulos was conceived as the latest part of the video project Corridor X realised in 2006 by Angela Melitopoulos. It brings us to Chalkidiki in Northern Greece, the site of an on-going grassroots struggle against large-scale open pit gold mining projects which are emblematic of the exploitative power relations existing within the European Union and a powerful example of contemporary “disaster capitalism”.

One consequence of the economic austerity measures imposed on the Greek state by the so-called "Troika" (the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank) has been the implementation of a "fast track" investment program enabling the accelerated and barrier-free licensing of large scale private investment projects.

Eldorado Gold, a Canadian “low cost” mining company based in Vancouver, became the showcase of these "fast track" investments, receiving state approval in July 2011 for the construction of an open pit gold mine to extract the very last grams of gold from the ground under the Skouries forest of Halkidiki.

Halkidiki is a biologically diverse peninsula in Northern Greece consisting of mountainous old growth forests and pristine coastal environments. The economy of the region relies heavily on bee keeping, fishery, forestry, farming and tourism, activities which are dependent on the well-being of the ecosystem.

Within the debt crisis this example of exploitation shows that Greece has become a state of exception remotely controlled by the IMF and the EU. Within this state of disaster capitalism, supported by the German government, the Greek state criminalizes its protesting citizens, invading and threatening local protestors with special forces. The Greek state protects the private interests of the shareholders of Eldorado Gold against the interest of its citizens.

For further information:
soshalkidiki.wordpress.com
antigoldgr.org
keeptalkinggreece.com/tag/skouries/
nomines.org

For information on the imminent gold mine project in Roșia Montană, Transylvania (Romania)
stoprosiamontana.com/
rosiamontana.org/
youtube.com/watch?v=bMLhvQ0otuE

Please note: All protest footage in the video is archival footage.

Corridor X - Postscript to an Unfinished Journey (RestlessMinds, 2013) was premiered in November 2013 as a two channel video installation in the Berliner Herbstsalon at Gorki Theater, Berlin, Germany.
english.gorki.de/programme/berliner-herbstsalon/