A haunted hotel in the Old Oil Mill Factory, an unconventional opera, unexpected performances in the Archaeological Site, a musical tour on a tourist bus, a photographic exhibition – tribute to the working class of Greece, participatory workshops, meetings, events and much more await us this month in Elefsina!
THURSDAY 4, 11, 18, 21-28 MAY
Mystery 66 Voices in the city: Cultterra present Thirstdays
Old Railway Station
Υoung artists of the city in action! The youth group Cultterra introduces the project Thirstdays, symbolising the thirst of the city’s young people for art and culture. They get to know the young artists of the city, who are mainly in the early stages of their careers, through their solo exhibitions at the Old Railway Station. Meet Elpida Chatzinikolaou at the finissage of the “transcedence” installation, the famous singer Martha Fritzila, artistic collectives, and visual artist Danai Androni.
Find out more here
FRIDAY 5 – SUNDAY 7 MAY
Mystery 114 Everything Open
Public Space
A subversive opera from the renowned groundbreaking Novoflot group. Berlin-based independent opera company Novoflot presents an opera in the public space, where musicians, performers and dancers invite the audience to follow them on an imaginative journey. Starting from the Old Town Hall of Elefsina, walking through closed venues, such as small shops or inactive businesses, the artistic group Novoflot will present an innovative walking music-theatrical performance, walking – together with the spectators – along the pedestrian street of Nikolaidou Street, along the Archaeological Site, ending up via Kanellopoulou Street at the open theatre of the Old Oil Mill Factory.
Find out more here
TUESDAY 9 MAY
Mystery 93 Xilíki
Old Railway Station
Within the framework of Europe Day, Giorgos-Ikaros Babasakis discusses the meaning of art today. The group Amor Omnia presents a unified project made up of six actions that are continuous with the creative/artistic reflection on Time and its removal, on Rapture and Absence. The poet and translator Giorgos-Ikaros Babasakis like another Amphitryon invites significant poets, writers and visual artists to discuss the meaning of art today.
Find out more here
TUESDAY 9 – THURSDAY 11 MAY
Mystery 149 Transition to a Climate Neutral Future
The three-day European Pupil Conference will be attended by primary and secondary school students (10-15 years old) from schools in Elefsina, Attica, Thessaloniki, as well as from Germany and other European countries aiming to be in line with the vision of sustainability served by the European Capital of Culture initiative.
Find out more here
THURSDAY 11 MAY – SUNDAY 18 JUNE
Mystery 139 Alienation
Leonidas Kanellopoulos Cultural Center
A traveloque that studies the working class in Greece. Starting from Elefsina, the city where he lives and works, photographer Vangelis Gkinis studied the world of work in Greece with a focus on the working class. He travelled for six months across the country, covering a total of 4,755 kilometres and visiting 13 cities in Greece to talk to and photograph 28 workers from different industries and their workplaces, to highlight the difficulties faced daily by the modern worker of the 21st century.
Find out more here
FRIDAY 12 – SUNDAY 14 MAY
Μystery 20 Performing Arts Initiator – Narrative Archaeology
Archaeological Site of Elefsina
Why do we visit an archaeological site? What are we looking for there? A ground-breaking pairing of performance art and archaeology, curated and directed by Gemma Hansson Carbone, that combines man’s innate love of storytelling and the mysterious awe that occupies every visitor to historical monuments.
Find out more here
12 – 20 MAY
Μystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator III – But don’t tell anyone
An artist-in-residence programme and exhibition on initiation and secrecy. The five visual artists that have been selected to participate in the 3rd edition of the artist-in-residence program will stay in the city of Elefsina, experiment and conceive a site responsive project, revisiting the Eleusinian mysteries in dialogue with the Archeological Site, under the guidance and supervision of the internationally acclaimed curator Joanna Warsza and five fellow artists.
Find out more here
19 & 22 – 29 MAY
Premiere: May 19 // For a few performances only
Μystery 76 Don’t Look Back
Old Olive Mill Factory of Elefsina
The new creation of Yiannis Houvardas walks the line between thriller, science fiction and metaphysical performance. The three Warehouses of the Old Oil Mill factory are transformed into the abandoned Hotel Spectre in which the spectres of the mythical lovers Orpheus and Eurydice “living” the fateful moments of their love. An unprecedented dream journey, which dissolves the dividing lines between audience and performers, inviting viewers to make critical decisions at pivotal points in their journey.
Find out more here
WEDNESDAY 24 – SUNDAY 28 MAY
Μystery 106 Chamomile – Transit
A concertcum-guided tour on the upper deck of an open-top sightseeing bus. Greek band My Wet Calvin are presenting a concertcum- guided tour on the upper deck of an open-top sightseeing bus that will trace the route once taken by the procession leading to the Eleusinian Mysteries, only in reverse. In addition to the band, Alexia Sarantopoulou will be on the bus, who will act as a tour guide where the passengers will be part of a special tour of the overlooked “sights” and the stories of the city’s western exit.
Find out more here
SUNDAY 28 MAY
Μystery 182 Sunday’s ELEUSIS
Α Sunday gathering to discuss the political exercise that is the sharing of free time. An all-day experiential action (with performances, collective kitchen, concerts and discussions over coffee), and a documentary that observes – both before and during this action – as working class heroes trace the thread of collective memory to reflect on the non-working day for all that is Sunday, whose nature is now shifting, over morning coffee and conversation, games and a concert with the most promising upcoming Greek artists such as Maria Papageorgiou, Yiannis Papageorgiou and Yiannis Dionyssiou.
Find out more here
SATURDAY 27 – MONDAY 29 MAY
Mystery 140 Blind Guide
Archaeological Site of Elefsina
A dark and at the same time deeply bright journey in the Archaeological Site of Elefsina. A performance – walking tour of the archaeological site of Elefsina, directed by Pavlos Pavlidis, which starts at the exact moment of sunset and is addressed to the sighted and sightless. Under the guidance of a blind guide and with the help of the performers, viewers are invited to tour the archaeological site with their eyes closed, while stories from the past and present, from the living and from those who have passed away, accompanied by music and soundscapes, like another Mystery, will lead them on a dark and at the same time deeply luminous journey to Hades.
Find out more here
MAY – DECEMBER
Μystery 68 Stalker
Public space
The city of Elefsina is reintroduced to us through the eyes of its inhabitants. With a series of workshops, which conclude on May 6, cultural heritage managers, tour guides, specialists and artists, plan in collaboration with the residents of the city interactive walks in the public space and games of discovery and exploration of the city on the themes of Archeology – History, Industrial Archeology and Environment, giving the visitors of Elefsina the opportunity to discover, from the beginning of June and throughout the year, its many facets and memories.
Mystery 135 Trust in Play_School of Urban Game Design_Τhe Elefsina Cycles
Participatory urban games
Are you passionate about the design of urban games and playful experiences? Do you want to be part of an international community of creators? Are you a recent graduate or emerging cultural practitioner in game & interaction design, art, urban planning & architecture, performance, technology, storytelling or a related field? Join us and explore myths and nocturnal landscapes in Elefsina through urban games and rituals of any kind.
Find out more here
Apply here // Deadline: Wednesday May 10, 2023
Mystery 112 Maria Papadimitriou: Dual Theatre or On Friendship
The Theatre of Vigour: Workshop of sculpture & other forms of plastic expression
Visual artist Maria Papadimitriou creates the Theater of Vigour (Theatrum Energeia), an open workshop of sculpture and other forms of expression for – and with – the residents of Elefsina. In the workshop – studio she created exclusively for this purpose in the city center, the participants will have the opportunity every day to acquire knowledge, experience, skills and become aware of the wide selection of practices and techniques related to the production of works of art.
Find out more here
The open call will be announced very soon.
Mystery 42 Futuring Waters
Participatory workshops for the future of water
The artist Jenny Marketou invites the young people of Elefsina to participate in three workshops related to climate change and water rights, as part of her research and artistic project dealing with the vision of the «future of water», with all that it entails on a scientific, artistic and literary level.
Find out more here
The open call will be announced very soon.
Mystery 43 The School of Waves and Weeds
Participatory workshops with the participation of scientists and artists
Two interdisciplinary workshops which, by exploring poetic but also political interrelations of production, development, parasitism and inertia, seek to showcase local ecosystems and mutual support networks and to raise broader questions about critical new practices, methods and pedagogies that respond to today’s needs and their concomitant repercussions on the urban, natural and socio-political realm, organised by Eight / Το Οχτώ, critical institute for arts and politics.
Find out more here
The open call will be announced very soon.
Mystery 65 Reframe Eleusis
Photographic workshops that capture and interpret the visual anthropology of Elefsina.
Reframe Eleusis is a collective social activity featuring art, education and research. It invites young people from Elefsina and other areas of the Region of Attica to participate in a programme focusing on photogra- phy and visual culture, in order to create original pho- tographic works inspired by the Elefsinian landscape.
The open call will be announced very soon.
