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does selective memory result in the construction of stereotypes and pose obstacles in accepting the other/different/invisible?
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The selective path is an alternative city guide to a selection of Thessaloniki’s sites that are somehow linked to the transnational lived heritage of the city. They are sites of interest, of complex, delicate background – both political and social, collectively and individually. The sites are connected with the transnational past referred to as ottoman/ Turkish/ Islamic, with migration imprints from the period of population exchanges with Asia Minor supplemented with incidents of today’s complex reality. In the following page, instructions regarding the starting point of the guide are given. However, the exact path you will take is not yet decided. On the contrary, the number of sites you will see, as well as the sequence in which you will see them, depends on some choices you will be asked to make. When getting at the starting site, you will come across a sentence referring to it. This sentence leaves the key-term referring to the site open, but at the same time possible answers are offered in the listed brackets. You are asked to choose whichever of the possible answers you prefer (the blank option is provided so that you are able to fill the sentence with your own thought, should you want it). The completion of the sentence is not perceived as a test nor does it propose the existence of a right or wrong answer/choice. Its goal is actually to point out the complexity of the topic as well as to emphasize the act of selecting and leaving out aspects. In the following page selected (historical) details of the sites can be revealed and reconsideration of the taken choice is possible, should you want it. Afterwards, according to your choice, you are given the page where you can find the next site of your walk. 2
starting point
you can easily find the starting point by just scanning this QR-code:
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if your choice was a or b, go to page 25 if your choice was c or d, go to page 17
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now go to page 25
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now go to page 25
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if your choice was a or b, go to page 21 if your choice was c or d, go to page 13
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if your choice was a or b, go to page 13 if your choice was c or d, go to page 9
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if your choice was a or b, go to page 21 if your choice was c or d, go to page 17
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This is the last site that you are to see according to your choices. However, as you probably have already noticed, you have not visited all of the sites included in the guide-booklet. This realization and knowledge that due to the selections made, some sites, information, narratives, facts have been omitted is a crucial element of this guide and the way it was designed. Each individual can select their own path, that is unique and formed according to their choices. Our aim was to point out that alternative paths in connecting today’s lived heritage, contemporary sites and historical monuments: moments in time that coexist in the city, can always be taken. This walk could serve as an occasion to question and provoke reflection on the meanings we ascribe to the places we see in our everyday life. A reflected acceptance of the selections/choices made might be an opportunity in negotiating how we confront today’s complex reality. 33
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