ΣΥΝΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΙ – A FESTIVAL

An impulsive opening to all forms of art internationally, and at the same time a voice, a place, a project for the communities and collectives of the city.

From the Old Railway Station to Fonias beach, from ARKOPOLIS to Nikolaidou pedestrian street and from the Canteen art hub to the Elefsina Old Town Hall, art exhibitions, theatrical performances, musical events, cinema activities, contemporary circus and acrobatics, architectural performances, culinary meetings and walking routes, workshops as well as other unexpected forms of participation, all the manifestations of creation and creativity − the vast majority of them with free entry − fill the neighbourhoods of Elefsina in an endless celebration of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, generosity and inclusion.

Performing arts in focus

Among the tall trees of Oasis, the former campsite, the site-specific theatrical performance MYSTERY 13 I_LEFT PONTUS (21-24/6), directed by Yolanda Markopoulou, explores and narrates an underlit part of Greek history, where participants share the stories of their families and origins: the younger ones as they were told them and the older ones as they lived them. A multimedia site-specific performance, MYSTERY 175 WALKING IN LIGHT (24/6), directed by Elena Zervopoulou, is based on the personal experiences of young refugees and, through music, reveals their inner journey in Greece in search of a better future. 

Modern circus and acrobatics have pride of place

Greek and French artists, musicians of the Eastern and Western Mediterranean create artistic activities about public and private space, urban planning and the multicultural social fabric of suburban cities as part of MYSTERY 57 CLIMBING OVER ELEFSINA / REVISITING THE LANDSCAPES OF ELEFSINA (12 – 17/6). It’s a concept developed by the team Le Petit Cirque du Monde and the team “Ki omos kineitai” [And yet, it moves]. In the framework of MYSTERY 119 HUMANOSPHERE (14/6), Clément Dazin invites us to discover modern circus in all its facets and be surprised by the unexpected. The following day (15/6), MYSTERY 116 LES AMANTS DU CIEL, directed by Marco Mannucci, involves vertical dance and modern circus and shows that anything and everything can happen when the wall of a building becomes the stage itself. At the same time, the new poetic form of the circus invites us to Elefsina, to put aside what divides us, and instead to meet and create together. In MYSTERY 16 TOGETHER! A CIRCUS INVITATION 20 circus artists from Greece, Hungary and Ukraine participate in interventions designed for the urban landscape. In the framework of SPARK – PLACEMAKING & PERFORMING ARTS (17/6), 20 professionals from across Europe participate in an interdisciplinary workshop on the issue of activating the public space with the active participation of citizens (placemaking) through performing arts. Finally, both children and adults can participate in MYSTERY 109 THE HIGGS PARTICLE (18/6), a series of workshops with social circus, acrobatics, and contemporary dance by the team “Ki omos kineitai” [And yet it moves], involving the cooperation and participation of local residents. 

And of course, no multimedia festival is possible without music!

On 21 June, the longest day of the year, Elefsina celebrates the European Music Day with MYSTERY 154 LIVE MUSIC ACTS, a concert of contemporary opera by Mato Grosso, the live presentation of a performance project titled LOU for Elefsina, Am I? by queer artist Eleni Papalitsa, and pop-up live concerts in the public space by local musical artists. On the same day, in MYSTERY 96 CHORES we will have the chance to enjoy an unexpected musical experience in public, the polyphonic song programme by a female vocal ensemble of Elefsinian women of all ages, a wholly female community, under the artistic direction of Marina Satti. MYSTERY 100 SACRED SONGS (23/6) titled “Come out, Sun, burn me!” celebrates the summer solstice with songs and happenings of Therus and Cledon. ΣΥΝΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΙ A FESTIVAL concludes with the Dresden Sinfoniker (28/6), one of Europe’s leading contemporary music orchestras, which will fill the sky above Elefsina with sound during MYSTERY 132 SKY ABOVE ELEFSINA. Music specifically composed or arranged for 2023 Eleusis, combined with strikingly original works of the past, will be performed in the city’s unique settings.

A culinary encounter inspired by the Greek islands

Those present at MYSTERY 49 SYMPOSIA (9/6) will have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the rich tradition of food in the region’s various communities. This culinary meeting in its fourth iteration draws its theme from GREEK ISLANDS and takes place in co-operation with folklore associations in the Municipality of Elefsina-Magoula. The SYMPOSIUM table also becomes an artistic experience in MYSTERY 28, a scenographic-sculptural installation by Flux Office, Eva Manidaki & Thanasis Demiris, creating spatial social sculpture.

Elefsina − a stage for art

The team Errands presents MYSTERY 142 OH SO NOW ELEUSIS IS GROWING WHEAT! (10-28/6), an audio installation about the Arvanites of Elefsina and the surrounding area, a special work regarding the history of language and minorities.

Asking a person to let go of what they once loved. MYSTERY 144 LEAVE WHAT YOU LOVED ONCE (10-28/6) by Elena Demetria Chantzis is an interactive installation for which the public offers up objects, on the city’s coastal front, transforming personal memories to collective ones. Five years after the installation Photosynaxis in Ano Elefsina, Beforelight creative lighting group returns to Elefsina with MYSTERY 48 CONSTELLATIONS (19/6), presenting pre-existing and new lighting elements that will appear in the form of a light mural in a new composition in the area of the IRIS factory, in a process of creative reuse. 

Opening of the new Ark of Youth & Culture ARKOPOLIS with a great celebration!

A great celebration on 18 June marks the opening of MYSTERY 99 THE ARK, the Ark of Eternal Youth and Culture created by TimeCircus. A space freely accessible to the city’s youth by the members of the Belgian collective who travelled 3,000 km on foot from Antwerp to Elefsina, bringing the message that great social change is brought about by the actions of small groups.

Artistic activities spread throughout the city

A series of very interesting interdisciplinary art projects will also take place in the framework of ΣΥΝΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΙ A FESTIVAL. MYSTERY 134 PERSEPHONE, THE RED CARPET (1-28/6), a work of urban scenography and social art by the team Collectif MASI, actualises the myth of Persephone with its mysterious appearance-disappearance and its ritual movements as the participants take it from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. MYSTERY 69 GREEKIES (11/6), curated and directed by Menelaos Karamaggiolis, includes film screenings, music and dance performances and public dialogues with unpredictable encounters as public mysteries in Elefsina, redefining the concept of homeland. MYSTERY 68 STALKER (18, 23, 27/6), in co-operation with πeripatos sociocultural enterprise, completes a series of co-creation workshops, with the people of Elefsina inviting us to discover the rich cultural and natural heritage of the city through interactive walking experiences.

AND LEGENDS OF ELEFSINA: THE MYSTERIES OF CLAY (17, 18, 21, 22/6), curated by Athanasios Katsaras, begins with “Get mud on your hands”, a series of educational activities for beginners including a three-day workshop on Byzantine glazed pottery and a one-day workshop on red-figure pottery. 

The Peloponnisos International Documentary Film Festival, coordinated by Gina Petropoulou and Kleoni Flessa, brings to the towns of West Attica MYSTERY 168 MOBILE SOLAR CINEMA (10-11 & 16-18/6), a contemporary mobile cinema that runs exclusively on solar energy, with screenings accompanied by workshops for children, conveying a message of environmental awareness.

Last but not least, in the framework of this festival, MYSTERY 45 ATELIER ELEFSINA 2023 (17-21/6) will take place in co-operation with The Festival Academy: 35 emerging festival managers who organise festivals around the world have the opportunity to spend seven days in Elefsina with a group of established festival organisers, cultural activists, experts from various interdisciplinary fields and artists, and participate in an international debate on culture.

Λίγα λόγια για την ιστορία της δράσης

Οι Συνοικισμοί A FESTIVAL είναι η εξέλιξη του φεστιβάλ Συνοικισμός, της πρώτης δράσης παρακαταθήκης της Ελευσίνας ως Πολιτιστικής Πρωτεύουσας της Ευρώπης. Συστηματοποιώντας τη φιλοσοφία, τις κεντρικές αξίες και τη μεθοδολογία του κεντρικού μηνύματος του θεσμού, το Φεστιβάλ πραγματοποιήθηκε δυο χρονιές, το 2018 και το 2019, με στόχο την ενθάρρυνση των καλλιτεχνών να πειραματιστούν και να δημιουργήσουν έργα εμπνευσμένα από την περιοχή του Συνοικισμού τόσο ως περιβάλλον όσο και ως κοινωνία. Η τέχνη μπήκε στα σπίτια, τις αυλές και τα σοκάκια της Ελευσίνας, παρεμβαίνοντας στη ροή της καθημερινότητας της γειτονιάς σε τέτοιο βαθμό που είναι δύσκολο να διακρίνει κανείς που τελειώνει το πραγματικό και που αρχίζει το έργο τέχνης.

A few words on the history of the festival

ΣΥΝΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΙ A FESTIVAL is the evolution of the Synikismos festival, the first legacy project of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture. Condensing the philosophy, the core values ​​and the methodology of the central message of the institution, the festival was held twice, in 2018 and 2019, with the aim of encouraging artists to experiment and create works inspired by the Synikismos area, both as a setting and a society. Art entered the houses, courtyards and alleys of Elefsina, interfering with the flow of daily life in the neighbourhood to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish where reality ends and the artwork begins.

All activities are admission-free. The following are excluded:

Events with tickets

MYSTERY 57 CLIMBING OVER ELEFSINA / REVISITING THE LANDSCAPES OF ELEFSINA | Le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde & Ki omos kineitai | 17/6 | OLD OIL MILL FACTORY AMPHITHEATRE
Ticket prices: general admission 10€, reduced price 5€ (students, over 65, unemployed, disabled and attendants, actors) | Pre-sale starting on 2/6 | Round-trip travel available from downtown Athens to Elefsina. Book a seat here.

MYSTERY 132 SKY ABOVE ELEFSINA | Dresdner Sinfoniker | 28/6 | PUBLIC SPACE, OLD OIL MILL FACTORY AMPHITHEATRE, VLYCHA – SHIP GRAVEYARD
Ticket prices: general admission 15€, reduced price 10€ (students, over 65), concessions 5€ (unemployed, disabled and attendants, actors) | Pre-sale starting on 12/6

Free admission events with pre-booking required:
MYSTERY 37 VOICES OF ELEFSINA | 10 & 11/6 | Workshop for children | OSE – Elefsina Old Railway Station | Pre-booking here.
MYSTERY 68 STALKER | 18, 23, 27/6 | Promenade | Pre-booking here.

For the detailed programme of activities please visit 2023eleusis.eu. The programme is subject to change.