Mystery 20 Performing Arts Initiator – Narrative Archaeology

Drawing upon the performing arts, this innovative activity explores the concealed Narrative of the archaeological landscape, transforming scientific information into an experience for the visitor. Through movement, sound, music and new media, in this “performance of the narrative” the characters guide the audience on a visit to the silent presence of the Past as a living body.

Mystery 20 Performing Arts Initiator − Narrative Archaeology seeks the answers to two fundamental questions: 

Why do we visit an archaeological site today?
What do we seek there?

The action is informed by the following principles:

Every archaeological site is a Necropolis
Every visit there is a Νekyia – a voyage to the realm of shadows
Every archaeological site is a theatre of human History
Every archaeological site is silent and mute
Every archaeological site is an encryption of Time

In the context of this particular action, artists-researchers from various fields of arts, humanities and archaeology utilise methodological tools from art and research projects that have been successfully carried out in Italy, in collaboration with the Archaeological Society of Florence and the city’s National Archaeological Museum.

In close collaboration with the archaeologists working at the archaeological site of Ancient Eleusis, the members of the permanent working group and new collaborators selected following the Open Call by 2023 Eleusis present this November the fruit of a long evolutionary process that began in February 2022, with a performance/on-site interaction with this iconic landscape in the city. The history of the archaeological site of Ancient Eleusis meets the present of this tour, which is constantly reconfigured, regenerated and evolving, transcending the conventions of temporality.

Mystery 20 Performing Arts Initiator – Narrative Archaeology is an attempt to interpret/approach the past within the physical space and the world that inspired it. It is a Legacy Project by 2023 Eleusis that continues after its conclusion as a methodology-model to be applied throughout the inexhaustible archaeological wealth of both Greece and Europe.

The project Mystery 20 Performing Arts Initiator – Narrative Archaeology is realised in the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU.