In 1951, the whole of my father’s family left Greece in order to seek a better future in Brazil. The Greek Civil War (1945-1949) had destroyed their villages and killed most of their livestock. Following a long voyage via Naples and across the Atlantic, 27 families and 171 people in total finally approached Rio de Janeiro. Yet, the worst omen for their new home came with the death of the family’s patriarch, my great-grandfather, who died as their ship was reaching Rio. Following this shocking loss, things did not turn out as the family would have wished. Life at the immigration camp of Ilha das Flores, where the family had settled, proved hard for many of them. After staying just a few months in Brazil, the whole family decided to return back to Greece, thus becoming refugees in their own home country. ‘Copacabana’ is a new multi-part installation inspired by the migration of my family. The work will “bridge” history, utopia and personal trauma, whilst drawing connections with the multifaceted crises – economic, refugee and political – that are currently affecting Greece, the Mediterranean and many places around the world. The installation will be based on the exclusive use of found material: found images in the form of family photos and photos from institutional collections; archival recordings of traditional Greek songs; and extracts from the amateur video that documents the successful search for the grave of my great-grandfather, which was shot by my father in Rio in 2007.