2023 ELEUSIS - PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS- ENG

J AN UA R Y

MYSTERY 29 ELEFSINA – THE RAW MUSEUM exhibition

DESIGNER & CURATOR: ERATO KOUTSOUDAKI 14 DEC ‘22 - 26 ΜΑR ‘23 OLD ELEFSINA TOWN HALL An exhibition-ode to the city of Elefsina.

MYSTERY 108 ΚAMARES

interdisciplinary art project

CONCEPT & CURATION: EURIPIDES LASKARIDIS // OSMOSIS 20, 21, 22 JΑΝ & 5 FEB LEONIDAS KANELLOPOULOS CULTURAL CENTRE In a polymorphic experiment, Laskaridis creates a universe by triggering the senses, imagination, and humour.

FE B RU A RY

OPENING CEREMONY MYSTERY 0 ΜYSTERIES OF TRANSITION – OPENING CEREMONY CONCEPT: MICHAIL MARMARINOS DIRECTOR: CHRIS BALDWIN 4 & 5 FEB PUBLIC SPACE This great celebration of Europe starts with an impressive event on the seafront and a varied two-day programme of exhibitions, concerts, DJ parties and parallel events throughout the town. A twin gesture that will conclude with the Closing Ceremony.

MYSTERY 177 VISIONS FROM THE UNDERWORLD visual arts

CURATORIAL TEAM: THE AGPROGNOSTIC TEMPLE (DOME WOOD & SAM STEVERLYNCK) 3 FEB - 8 APR X-BOWLING ART CENTER The mystical worship through a contemporary visual language.

A psychedelic journey – a symbolic descent into the Underworld and back.

MYSTERY 44 HEINER GOEBBELS 7 COLUMNS visual arts

ARTIST: HEINER GOEBBELS 5 FEB - 23 APR WAREHOUSE 2, OLD OIL MILL FACTORY Light, water, projection and sound transform the space of the Old Oil Mill Factory into a Sanctuary, a space of secular initiation.

MYSTERY 17 MELINA exhibition

Tribute to Melina Mercouri GENERAL SUPERVISION: MANUELLA PAVLIDOU CURATION - MUSEOLOGICAL & MUSEOGRAPHIC STUDY: NIKOLAOS KALTSAS 5 FEB - 23 APR WAREHOUSE 3, OLD OIL MILL FACTORY The exhibition brings to life the multifaceted personality of the glamorous actress, unyielding fighter for democracy and visionary of the European Capital of Culture institution.

MA R C H ALL EXHIBITIONS AND VISUAL INSTALLATIONS CONTINUE.

A P RI L

MYSTERY 92 PIANO, VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO music

PERFORMED BY: DISSONART ENSEMBLE 1 APR WAREHOUSE 1, OLD OIL MILL FACTORY For the first time in Greece, the distinguished contemporary music ensemble dissonArt presents Morton Feldman’s iconic composition.

MYSTERY 84 PANIGÍRI (THE FEAST DAY OF SAINT GEORGE) LIVE CINEMA – WORKING CLASS – SIRENS festival

CONCEIVED & CURATED BY: SYLLAS TZOUMERKAS 21, 22, 23 APRIL PUBLIC SPACE | WEST ATTICA LABOUR UNION BUILDING (EKEDA) Centring on a folk festivity, the project involves marathon screenings, public speeches, performances and the open to the public in-situ production of two live cinema films.

M AY

MYSTERY 99 THE ARK

architecture | design

ARTISTIC TEAM: TIMECIRCUS ΜΑΥ - DEC A place of Eternal Youth and Culture. Together with the residents of Elefsina, TimeCircus will envision the Ark as an accessible, open and free space for all social groups.

MYSTERY 114 EVERYTHING OPEN music theatre

AN ORIGINAL WORK BY: NOVOFLOT CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY: SVEN HOLM 5, 6, 7 MAY PUBLIC SPACE The participatory project Everything Open aims to explore how choir and opera can survive the challenges of our time and the impact of the global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic while retaining artistic originality and bringing together specialists from various disciplines.

MYSTERY 20 PERFORMING ARTS INITIATOR – NARRATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY interdisciplinary art project

CURATOR - DIRECTOR: GEMMA HANSSON CARBONE PRESENTATION: 12-14 MAY & 11-26 NOV ANCIENT ELEUSIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE Why do we visit an archaeological site? What are we seeking there?

A hybrid project on how the narrative of the site is transformed into an experience for the visitor.

MYSTERY 76 DON’T LOOK BACK theatre

CONCEIVED & WRITTEN BY: YANNIS HOUVARDAS 19-22, 24-29 MAY OLD OIL MILL FACTORY The Old Oil Mill Factory is transformed into the dilapidated Hotel Spectre, where the ghosts of the mythical lovers Orpheus and Eurydice are brought to life – in multiple incarnations embodying a range of ages – via a dream-like experience that traces the fateful moments of their tragic love story.

MYSTERY 182 SUNDAY’S ADVENT interdisciplinary art project

EVENT & DOCUMENTARY CREATOR: ANDREAS VAGIAS PERFORMING ACT: MARIA PAPAGEORGIOU, GIANNIS PAPAGEORGIOU, GIANNIS DIONYSIOU CURATOR: CHRISTOS PAPAMICHALIS 28 MAY OASIS FORMER CAMPSITE In a time of earth-shattering change, Eleusis (arriving) engages in a discussion with Sunday, contemplating its passing in the process.

INAUGURATION OF ART INSTALLATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SPACE.

J U NE

MYSTERY 3 ELEFSINA MON AMOUR visual arts

CURATOR: KATERINA GREGOS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ATHENS – EMST JUN - SEPT OLD OIL MILL FACTORY | Χ-BOWLING ART CENTER The flagship contemporary art exhibition comprises works of international artists conjoining politics, poetics, and aesthetics in Elefsina, a site of contradictions.

MYSTERY 120 ELEFSINA, A SECOND CHANCE – DEATH SEAMEN | GOLDEN KYKEON visual arts

ARTIST: NIKOS NAVRIDIS JUN - SEPT CYCEON BAR-CAFÉ A bold visual-architectural gesture that reflects the amorphous, blinding light of mystery. It transforms a public space into a contemporary sanctuary and telesterion (consecration hall), a gateway of escape and transition, seeking empathy as a transmutation of everyday life.

SYNIKISMOI – A FESTIVAL festival

JUN NEIGHBOURHOODS OF ELEFSINA An international festival with an emphasis on the performing arts and socio-political issues the Europe faces today, inviting different communities to a process of sharing the city's public spaces.

MYSTERY 79 BEYOND THE OBVIOUS CONFERENCE 2023 meetings | conferences

PARTNER: CULTURE ACTION EUROPE 8-10 JUN WEST ATTICA LABOUR UNION BUILDING (EKEDA) An annual conference on the theme of Culture and well-being, connecting the European cultural community with the city of Elefsina and placing culture at the core of public debate and decision-making.

MYSTERY 59 U(R)TOPIAS ACADEMY OF CHOREOGRAPHY dance

ARTISTIC DIRECTION: PATRICIA APERGI CHOREOGRAPHY/PERFORMANCE: CHRISTIANA KOSIARI-FASOLAKI, KATERINA FOTI, DIAMANTO HADJIZACHARIA GIORGOS PAPADOPOULOS, ELIAN ROUMIE, EMMANOUELA SAKELLARI ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE: AERITES DANCE COMPANY PERFORMANCES: 29 JUN - 2 JUL PUBLIC SPACE Six young choreographers present six site-specific works in the form of a promenade in the public space of the city as a result of their two-year artistic research in the city of Elefsina and their personal kinetic vocabulary.

J U LY

MYSTERY 111 ELEFSINA TERRACOTTA ARMY visual arts

ARTIST: JUAN ESTEBAN SANDOVAL JUL - SEPT IRIS FACTORY The internationally renowned Colombian visual artist creates a dedicated portrait of the active and non-working workforce of the city, consisting of 3,000 customised clay helmets.

A contemporary monument, to be exhibited in the emblematic space of the former Iris factory.

MYSTERY 112 MARIA PAPADIMITRIOU: DUAL THEATRE, OR ON FRIENDSHIP 1. THE THEATRE OF OBSERVATION 2. THE THEATRE OF VIGOUR visual arts

JUL - DEC PUBLIC SPACE A project in two parts that unfolds through the notion of the dual theatre. The theatre of observation is an installationobservatory and the theatre of energy transforms the relationships she develops with certain local people, which is a constant for her artistic practice.

MYSTERY 89 ΕLEFSINA BY NIGHT interdisciplinary art project

CHOREOGRAPHY: SARA PEARSON & PATRICK WILDRIG LIGHT INSTALLATION & DESIGN: ELEFTHERIA PRESENATION: 7-8 JUL SHIP GRAVEYARD | VLYCHA Light installations at several landmarks of Elefsina and a sitespecific performance at the Ship Graveyard, where the modern myth will emerge after sunset.

MYSTERY 27 WITH THEO IN OUR MIND music

COMPOSER & PIANO SOLOIST: ELENI KARAINDROU (GR) 9 JUL OLD OIL MILL FACTORY The internationally renowned, multi-awarded composer Eleni Karaindrou commemorates the tenth anniversary of the death of Theodoros Angelopoulos in the mythical land of Elefsina.

MYSTERY 35 ΑESCHYLUS PROJECT theatre

15, 16 | 23 | 29, 30 JUL OLD OIL MILL FACTORY | PUBLIC SPACE Three original projects based on the works of the great Eleusinian tragedian in a rare dialogue springboarding the Aeschylean Drama: The Eumenides (DIRECTED BY: Angela Brouskou), Iannis Xenakis: Oresteia (STATE ORCHESTRA OF ATHENS), Salamis will bring death to women's sons (ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY: Nikita Milivojević), Symposium on the issues of ancient drama and Aeschylean dramaturgy.

(CURATION: DIO KANGELARI)

A UG U S T

PROGRAMME OF PROJECTS AND EVENTS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE AESCHYLIA FESTIVAL. ALL EXHIBITIONS AND VISUAL INSTALLATIONS CONTINUE.

S EP TE M BER

MYSTERY 73 CINEMA PARADISE: INDUSTRIES OF COEXISTENCE visual arts

CURATOR: MARINA FOKIDIS SEPT OPEN AIR CINEMA OF ELEFSINA This project/experiment concerns the presentation of an international programme of new media works beyond the context of art-institutional settings, in an everyday entertainment space such as that of a typical Greek open-air cinema.

MYSTERY 126 STELIOS KAZANTZIDIS: IF ONLY MY LIFE WERE A SATURDAY NIGHT music

ARTISTIC DIRECTION: LENA KITSOPOULOU (GR) 14 SEPT ELEFSINA CEMETERY | OLD RAILWAY STATION On the occasion of the memorial service of Stelios Kazantzidis, a musical journey through the history of Elefsina and through all those Saturday nights when daybreak came to his sounds.

ECOCULTURE FESTIVAL festival

16 SEPT - 1 OCT OASIS FORMER CAMPSITE A festival dedicated to Ecoculture and environmental sustainability, which uses art and interdisciplinary dialogue to introduce new lifestyles and ownership of the city, sustainably and in harmony with nature.

ΜΥΣΤΗΡΙΟ 11 MA theatre

ARTISTIC & STAGE DIRECTION: ROMEO CASTELLUCCI 1-3 | 5-10 | 12-13 SEPT ANCIENT ELEUSIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE A walking experience/performance by the internationally acclaimed director, specially designed for the archaeological site of the city of Elefsina.

MYSTERY 14 HUMAN REQUIEM IN ELEUSIS performing arts

CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY: JOCHEN SANDIG CHOREOGRAPHY: SASHA WALTZ 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 SEPΤ & 1 OCT ANCIENT ELEUSIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE The Ancient sanctuary of Eleusis is transformed into an open public space of collective purification where text and body, space and sound come together in a single work of art.

O CT O B ER

MYSTERY 19 VISUAL ARTS INITIATOR ΙΙΙ - BUT DON’T TELL ANYONE visual arts

CURATOR: JOANNA WARSZA ΜΑY & OCT PUBLIC SPACE | ANCIENT ELEUSIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE An artist residency programme with the participation of five established and five emerging artists that leads to a visual-art group exhibition in the archaeological site in October 2023, redefining the boundaries between initiators and initiates.

DIGITAL DAYS festival

CONCEPT & CURATION: 2023 ELEUSIS – CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ATHENS DIGITAL ARTS FESTIVAL (ADAF) (GR) OCT X-BOWLING ART CENTER | WEST ATTICA LABOUR UNION BUILDING (EKEDA) | PUBLIC SPACE A festival of reflection on our contemporary –augmented– identity with an exhibition and a three-day panel of discussions.

MYSTERY 87 I MY SEA JOURNEY, I MY LAND CLAIM festival

CONCEPT & SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION: STEFANIA STROUZA OCT OLD OIL MILL FACTORY A sculptural installation that embodies the concept of the coast as a techno-physical environment, as described in the first part of Heiner Müller’s play The Ruined Shore.

MYSTERY 34 FACES OF ELEFSINA visual arts | photography

ARTIST - PHOTOGRAPHER: LINA BERTUCCI OCT OLD ELEFSINA TOWN HALL A photography exhibition and multimedia participatory video installation on the diverse communities of Elefsina.

N OV E MB ER

MYSTERY 56 CULTURE 2030 MEETING meetings | conferences

CURATOR: KELLY DIAPOULI PARTNER: BUSART 9-12 ΝΟV WEST ATTICA LABOUR UNION BUILDING (EKEDA) A four-day meeting around issues of artistic citizenship, art of sociability and the cultural development of cities and communities, through discussions, workshops, presentations of art projects and networking events.

CLOSING CEREMONY

17-22 NOV CINE - ELEUSIS | OLD OIL MILL FACTORY | PUBLIC SPACE

The Closing Ceremony comes to complete the gesture of the Opening Ceremony with the inauguration of the festival MYSTERY 23 Cine - Eleusis: IN SITU realities (in collaboration with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and other institutions). In this context, MYSTERY 31 The Eleusinians, the continuation of the emblematic documentary “Mourning Rock” by Filippos Koutsaftis, will have its official premiere.

In addition, MYSTERY 151 A Rave Down Below and MYSTERY 122 Lament will be inaugurated while the rest of the events will be announced gradually.

DE C E MB ER

MYSTERY 125 ELEFSINA 2023 COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA & CHOIR music

CONCEPT & ART DIRECTION: ALEKSANDAR CARIC 17 DEC PUBLIC SPACE | ELEOURGIKI INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX Creating a community orchestra and choir with people of all ages and from all walks of life, proof that music is accessible to all.

MYSTERY 15 THE LIVING MUSEUM architecture | design

CURATOR: VANA XENOU IRIS FACTORY | PUBLIC SPACE The emergence of the cultural components of the city, which makes visible the sources of the historical, natural and anthropological character of Elefsina, through a double exhibition of artworks and research, and a conference.

MYSTERY 125PROJECTS ALL-YEAR ELEFSINA 2023 COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA & CHOIR music

CONCEPT & ART DIRECTION: ALEKSANDAR CARIC MYSTERY 30 THE INVISIBLE MAP 17 DEC ONLINE, PUBLIC SPACEOMPLEX interdisciplinary art project THROUGHOUT 2023 Creating a community orchestra and choir with people of all ONLINE | PUBLIC SPACE

ages and from all walks of life, proof that music is accessible to all.

Public sign in the urban fabric of the city. A map of the micro-history of the people of Eleusis through narratives of deeply personal or historical experience.

MYSTERY 15 THE LIVING MUSEUM architecture | design

MYSTERY 100 CURATOR: VANA XENOU SACRED SONGS IRIS FACTORY, PUBLIC SPACE interdisciplinary art project

CURATOR: LIAVAS The emergenceLAMBROS of the cultural components of the city, which 11-12visible FEB, the 19 sources ΜΑR, 22 APR, 24 JUN, 2 AUG, makes of the historical, natural and 16 SEPT, 21 character NOV, 14ofDEC anthropological Elefsina, through a double exhibition VARIOUS LOCATIONS of artworks and research, and a conference.

A cycle of actions that highlights Eleusis as a central focal point for an intercultural dialogue where representative events and rituals of the peoples of the Mediterranean and the Balkans will come together.

LONG TERM PROJECT MID TERM PROJECT SHORT TERM PROJECT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

ACCESS TO ELEFSINA #21km Just 21km from the center of Athens, one of the most important sacred cities of antiquity, the city of the Eleusinian Mysteries and birthplace of Aeschylus, Elefsina is the fourth European Capital of Culture hosted in Greece.

You can access Elefsina in the following ways: Via car or motorcycle via Attiki Odos or Athinon Avenue, just a 25-minute drive from the Athens city center.

Via bus (lines 845 and 871 from Piraeus, line 876 from the Agia Marina metro station and line 878 from Acharnai).

Via the suburban railway (Magoula Station and then bus line 863).

Via KTEL (intercity public transport bus service -> line Megara – Nea Peramos – Eleusis; starting point at Asomaton Square, Thission).