Mystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator III – But Don’t Tell Anyone

On 21 and 22 October, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture presents the ten works that were created in the framework of the third iteration of the artist-in-residence programme Mystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator III – But Don’t Tell Anyone, in a live performance exhibition at the archaeological site of Ancient Eleusis.

Five emerging artists, selected after an open call to participate in the programme, and five international guest artists drew inspiration from the Eleusinian Mysteries, listened attentively to the city and its stimuli, were initiated by each other, experimented, and now present ten original works in interaction with each other, under the guidance of the globally renowned curator Joanna Warsza.

Starting from speculations about the unique pagan rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries, both the residency programme and the ensuing exhibition seek to reinterpret the current meaning of concepts such as initiation and secrecy, extending them in various social, political and poetic directions. The works open up possible readings of death and loss, while reflecting on notions pertaining to the restoration of knowledge, the connection to the planet, the need to overcome any kind of fear and harness hope for a possible afterlife.

When a secret is entrusted to someone, part of the charm is that the recipient of the secret gains the power to reveal it, if they wish, to third parties – discreetly, of course. The Eleusinian Mysteries rank among the most secret and, simultaneously, the most democratic rites performed in ancient Greece. Revealing any information about them was punishable by death. Thousands of people were initiated every year, including women, slaves and non-Greek citizens, swearing an oath of secrecy in order to partake in the mysteries of Demeter. These rites − which touched on the afterlife, the cult of agriculture and rebirth, spirituality, psychedelic and communal experience over the course of almost two millennia − remain an unsolved enigma right down until today, and are still core to the identity of the town, which has since become a major Greek industrial hub.

Heidi Voet (guest artist) places on the archaeological site 24 concrete balls reflecting the position of the Eridanus constellation as fossils of modern society, while Vlad Brăteanu (resident artist) uses wooden boxes and attempts to protect the antiquities from the insatiable gazes of visitors. Esmeralda Momferratou (resident artist) creates a collage from footage depicting people born, raised or relocated to Elefsina, in order to speak about the multiple – physical and symbolic – boundaries of the city; in parallel, Angelo Plessas (guest artist) invites the audience to the Plutonian Cave and to a new ritual, the Mandala System, which evolved from his research on the Eleusinian Mysteries. Alexander Wolframm (resident artist), shocked by the wildfires that hit Greece last summer, presents an installation exploring how an experience in a sacred place – like the archaeological site of Ancient Eleusis – cannot remain unaffected by the contemporary state of the environment. Visitors will also have the chance to listen to sounds from shells that have been brought from different parts of the world, revealing profound associations with the human breath and serving as a metaphor for life and our mortality, in the sound installation Wind Rose by Susan Philipsz (guest artist). Moreover, the work Things Said, Things Shown, Things Done by James Bridle (guest artist), using three solar panels, portrays Elefsina’s local history as a history of initiation, environmental awareness, and socio-political power. Yorgos Sapountzis (guest artist), reframing the Raster Baste cycle, creates the Re-Raster Baste based on the idea of the matrix, interacting on this occasion with the archaeological site of Eleusis. Finally, Athina Koumparouli (resident artist), using research and excavation as her main tools, connects three elements and three sites with concepts such as myth, loss, transition, death and rebirth, while Flavia Stagi (resident artist), focusing her research on the traditions of initiation, uses a multimedia installation to connect the artistic process with rites, and invites visitors to an experience for all the senses. 

The exhibition Mystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator III – But Don’t Tell Anyone comprises a two-day intervention (21 & 22 October) at the archaeological site of Eleusis including a series of performances, alluding in form the procession of ancient ceremonies. Through this walking experience, artists and visitors will relive the myth of Demeter and Persephone. They will receive secret signs. This is art speaking. The time has come to conceal and to disclose. 

The legacy project Mystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator

The main goal of the legacy project Mystery 19 Visual Arts Initiator by 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, which has already been held successfully twice, in 2018 and in 2022, is to initiate Greek and foreign young artists in the art of in-situ installation guided by a team of curators, and to give them the opportunity to experiment with small- and medium-scale projects in the public space. The programme creates the necessary conditions for the guest artists to develop a close relationship with the city during their stay in Elefsina, listening to it, reacting to its stimuli and reinventing it through their artistic creations.

2023 Eleusis, in the context of this programme, collaborates with established institutions, artists and curators from Greece and abroad, like 40mcube, Mosquito Coast Factory, Yellow Brick, Eight/Το Οχτώ, Snehta Residency, while the two previous iterations included 12 artists: Sophie Innmann (DE), Evi Kalogiropoulou (GR), Doruntina Kastrati (XK), Timothy Laskaratos (GR), Hortense Le Calvez (FR), Aimilia Liontou (ΑΤ), Panos Profitis and Despoina Charitonidi (GR), Eleni Mylona (CH), Maria Nikiforaki (GR), Kamila Szejnoch (PL), and Pagona Zali (GR).