Mystery 178 Collecting flowers with her girlfriends

The exhibition is the beginning of an evolving creation that will be completed by the end of the cycle of time and the final work of the two students of Mystery 7 Free University of Elefsina IN SITU, a production of 2023 Eleusis. With the guidance and support of Sophia Rizopoulou, Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecophysiology at the Department of Biology of the University of Athens, Violeta Diamanti-Meletiou and Irini Yovanou study, since the summer of 2023, the flora of the Archaeological Site of Elefsina and capture it on paper with drawing and colour. 

Through their six-month study at Mystery 7 Free University of Elefsina IN SITU, which “opened the window of knowledge to see the city and the whole world around them through new eyes”, the two women came into contact with the primordial interest of people in the Earth, the mythology of the region, the cult of Demeter and Persephone, Homer’s epics, Aristotle who studied the plant and animal world in his Physics and Metaphysics, the pioneer of plant science Theophrastus and his successor Dioscorides, and the British botanist Sibthorp who, in the 18th century, together with Ferdinard Bauer, recorded the plants of Greece in his Flora Graeca. Drawing inspiration from the above, Violeta Diamanti-Meletiou and Irini Yovanou made frequent visits to the Archaeological Site, studied and photographed the herbs that make up its flora, only to be confronted with many surprises. After all, who knew that 11 pink pepper trees grow there?

The result of this effort, which is still in progress, takes the form of a visual presentation accompanied by photographic material by Thanasis Milissis and fills the foyer of the Cine Eleusis Cultural Centre with colours.

Biographies

Violeta Diamanti-Meletiou is a graduate of the Athens School of Fine Arts, worked for many years in the restoration and renovation of murals in Chiller buildings, illustrated many children’s books and worked for 22 years as a teacher of visual arts at the Jeanne d’Arc Greek-French School. She lives and works with her family in Elefsina. 

Irini Yovanou has a degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University (USA) and a Master’s degree in Business and Technology Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (USA). She works as a teacher in the field of Computer Science in secondary education. She lives and works in Elefsina and is involved in research and folklore.