"Merry Crisis" or "Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear" is a slogan that appeared as graffiti in Athens during the 2008 Civil Unrest in Greece.[1][2][3] Earlier, a picture of such graffiti appeared on the cover of Vavel Magazines's 2007 Christmas special.[4] The British anarchist publication Occupied London states that it was "one of the main slogans of the 2008 revolt."[4]
Background
editOn 6 December 2008, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a fifteen-year-old boy, was killed by policemen in Exarcheia, a neighborhood of Athens.[5][6] Within a few hours, protesters were in Athens marching, setting buildings on fire and building barricades. They targeted symbols of capitalism including banks, police stations, and the Christmas tree in Syntagma Square.[5]
Graffiti
editDuring the 2008 riots, an unknown person spray-painted the phrase "Merry crisis and a happy new fear" outside the Bank of Greece in Athens.[7]
Legacy
editCommentators of the riots describe the phrase as the motto of the riots.[8]
Other uses
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In 2015, Christine Sydelko posted on Vine of her going around to people saying "Merry crisis" and "merry Chrysler" to people walking around a park. Christine's Vine became a quote used almost every Christmas season.
During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, an artist created a mural in a Sydney suburb depicting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison making a toast. A speech bubble states, "Merry Crisis". Prints and t-shirts of the mural were sold to raise money for the Rural Fire Service.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Violent protests flare again in central Athens - International Herald Tribune". Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
- ^ "Happy New Fear". 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Ed Vulliamy and Helena Smith join frontline activists in Athens". TheGuardian.com. 22 February 2009.
- ^ a b "On the Greek Riots › Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear". www.occupiedlondon.org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ a b Iliopoulos, Christos (2009). "'We wish you a merry crisis and a happy new fear': a postscript from the December riots in Athens". Anarchist Studies. 17 (1) – via Gale.
- ^ "French Institute in Athens attacked". The New York Times. 19 December 2008. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ Dibley, Ben; Neilson, Brett (26 July 2010). "Climate Crisis and the Actuarial Imaginary: 'The War on Global Warming'". New Formations. 69 (69): 144–159. doi:10.3898/NEWF.69.08.2010 – via Gale.
- ^ Hadjimichalis, Costis (July 2013). "From Streets and Squares to Radical Political Emancipation? Resistance Lessons from Athens during the Crisis". Human Geography. 6 (2): 116–136. doi:10.1177/194277861300600209. S2CID 220064083.
- ^ Hauser, Kitty (April 2020). "'The nation's symbolic landscapes were scrambled, as though in a nightmare or a bad trip': Kitty Hauser in Sydney". Apollo. 191 (685). Apollo Magazine Ltd. – via Gale.
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