Chez MOI

2016 / 2019

The ex MOI was an housing occupation of Turin born on March 30, 2013 inside the buildings of the Olympic Village built for the 2006 Winter Games and then abandoned and left unused. Considered the biggest occupation of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe, it has hosted more than 1400 refugees from 28 different countries in Africa. Many of them arrived in Italy because of the war that broke out in Libya in 2011, following the end of Piano Emergenza Nord Africa found themselves on the street without future prospects and the impossibility of leaving the country.

The ex MOI was a city within a city. A place animated by a form of self subsistence and mutual help, where the inhabitants have lived a life in a purgatory searching for a job and a bureaucratic regularization for some of them never arrived.

I spent just over three years in this place that has become my home. In every word I heard, I found an infinite greatness and boundless prayer, a determination that has often been difficult for me to understand. The ability to resist in an exhausting wait. For the first time in my life, in this colorful city that many people have preferred to forget, I met in person the meaning of the word: resilience.

At dawn on July 30, 2019 the last two buildings have been cleared out and it’s all over. I closed my eyes for a moment in that courtyard full of doubts and voices. Of all the words, those of a friend have hit my heart harder: “I’m on that boat. I’ve never been down. I’m still on that boat.”

Angela comes from Nigeria. At the end of December 2017 she gave birth to her first child Gift, at the neonatal unit of Sant’Anna hospital in Turin. Angela had a premature birth and she had to remain in hospital for longer due to her little daughter medical condition. Turin.

A view of the central courtyard from one of the windows of the orange building. The City of Turin has never given it a new destination. Turin.

Albert was born in Ghana. He's a former boxing and judo coach. In 2015 he set up a small gym in the basement of the orange building. He trains every day, after getting back from work. The gym is open to everyone. Turin.

Abdallah is a smith. He lives in an area of the basement, where he also has his workshop. He often repairs the carts of the residents who have taken to scrap-metal dealing. Turin.

A group of boys bivouac on the stairs that leading to the basement of the green building. Turin.

Ousmane is a young boy from Niger but raised in Libya. He has always been passionated about trap music and has managed to get a small space in the basement of the blue building, where he can record and mix his songs. Turin.

The night before the eviction, the last building, the orange one, is still full of things and people. Abu, the barber, cuts a guy’s hair on the ground floor. The MOI experience is coming to an end. Turin.

Gbtaut a young boy from Ivory Coast. In 2018, after a thorough examination for tubercolosis, he was diagnosed with neck cancer. He undergoes surgery and the necessary treatment. After long months of treatment he leaves the Ex MOI because with the help of the Babel cooperative he finds another place to stay. Turin.

Ali and Moussa spend a lot of their time at the ground floor of the orange building. His small kiosk is the only one among the various informal kiosks scattered around Ex MOI. Turin.

The view over the hotel – pizzeria in Giordano Bruno Street from one of the windows of the blue building. Turin.

Underneath the Ex MOI complex there is a huge open space. The basement is used both as a deposit by scrap metal dealers and as a sort of dumping area, where unused things are piled up randomly. Turin.

A volunteer from Doctors Without Borders fills out some forms for one of the guys. Turin.

A bunch of guys in front of the clothing warehouse. The space is occupied by sofas and small stoves. A lot of people stop here. Turin.

Diallo is a tailor, a cooker and a keen football player. His workshop, where he also sleeps, is on the ground floor of the orange building, the most crowded of the four Ex MOI buildings. Turin.

In 2017, the ex MOI is home to almost 1,400 migrants and refugees from 28 different sub-Saharan African countries. At the beginning of the occupation, coexistence proved difficult due to deep ethnic differences, but with time, things have changed a lot. A group of boys on an ordinary day. Turin.

Sido in the ex MOI school managed by a group of volunteers. Thanks to his secondary school diploma, he was able to take part in one of the work placement projects organized by the Cooperativa ORSO, which has always been involved in the work placement of migrants. Turin.

Several businesses have started up within the occupation. From the beginning, the inhabitants did their best to work. Adem opened a small restaurant on the ground floor of the orange building. Turin.

A group of Nigerian girls on the first floor of the orange building arrange their hair according to the typical African style born in the streets, which consists of braiding their hair with coloured cotton threads. Turin.

The ex-MOI hosts about 30 families. Leila is the only woman from Morocco. She has changed dozens of jobs, with contracts that have never given her certainty. This is because it is practically impossible to obtain permanent documents and therefore a long-term work contract. Turin.

Mohammed one of the carters. After the eviction of the basements, much material that had accumulated in the underground was piled up in the courtyard between the buildings occupying all the space where people used to gather to play football. Turin.

The ex-MOI has always been a problem for the municipality of Turin. No administration has proved capable of managing this complex and delicate situation. The occupation has been fiercely criticised. The various political factions that have alternated over time have always called for the occupants to be evicted without regard for their needs. In reality, however, this place is a city within a city, a place where hundreds of lives intertwine, merge and mingle, creating a cultural landscape of rare beauty. Turin.

Samuel is a friend, a prophet and an avid reader. I have spent a lot of time with him talking about everything. Many times he told me about his personal odyssey, the long journey after which all his hopes were dashed. He lives in this room crammed with memories where every object has its own precise meaning and place. Turin.