After the excitement and the joy we experienced when the chair of the European panel, Steve Green, announced that Elefsina is recommended to be the European Capital of Culture in 2021, Eleusis 2021 team rolled up its sleeves and got down to work. With even more energy, we are working every day and we are getting ready for our next steps.
At organisational level, we proceed in establishing the “ELEFSINA 2021 S.A.” which will implement the ECoC project. Within this framework, an open call for expressions of interest was announced in order to find the Human Resources (HR) company that will be responsible to find the qualified professional for the position of the Executive Director (CEO) of “ELEFSINA 2021 S.A.”
At cultural and communication level, December and January were two months full of travels and meetings that aimed at both promoting our vision, and creating partnerships with cultural organisations and networks.
We met…
- the Romanian Ambassador to Greece and the cultural attaché of the American and the French Embassy.
- the artistic directors of the Hellenic Festival, of the National Opera and of the Athens Concert Hall. The artistic director of Eleusis 2021 discussed with them about possible collaborations under the framework of our cultural programme.
We welcomed in Elefsina…
- Mr Shuji Kogi, Secretary General of the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee, an organisation which has already collaborated with more than 40 ECoC cities, promotes and supports Japan-related programmes in European Capitals of Culture. The artistic director of Eleusis 2021, Kelly Diapouli, together with the mayor of Elefsina, Giorgos Tsoukalas and Giorgos Skianis, main curator of Eleusis 2021 visual arts programme, had the opportunity to share with him our vision for the “Transition to EUphoria” and to discuss about a possible future collaboration regarding the promotion of cultural exchange between local and Japanese cultural actors and artists in the following years.
- the Secretary General of the International Network for contemporary performing arts IETM, Nan Van Houte.
- the artistic director of the Hellenic Festival, Vangelis Theodoropoulos.
- the former artistic director of the National Museum of Contemporary Arts in Athens, Anna Kafetsi.
- the cultural cooperation attaché of the French Embassy, Muriel Piguet – Viaux.
We travelled to….
- …Aarhus. The artistic director of Eleusis 2021, Kelly Diapouli visited Aarhus, one of the two European Capitals of Culture 2017 that welcomed 2017 with a big Opening Ceremony on the night of the 21st January 2017.Except from the opportunity to watch the Opening Ceremony of Aarhus 2017 – European Capital of Culture, Kelly Diapouli met and discussed about possible future collaborations with representatives from other cities which have already been European Capitals of Culture as Mons 2015 (Belgium), Pilsen 2015 (Czech Republic), Donostia – San Sebastian 2016 (Spain), Wroclaw 2016 (Poland), as well as with representatives from other cities that are getting prepared to host the ECoC title such as Leeuwarden 2018 (Netherlands), Valetta 2018 (Malta), Matera 2019 (Italy), Plovdiv 2019 (Bulgaria), Galway 2020 (Ireland) and Rijeka 2020 (Croatia) and representatives from candidate cities that have applied for the ECoC title as Kaunas 2022, Lithuania.
- …Paris. Yannis Pappas, representative of the Eleusis 2021 communication office, travelled to Paris along with the communication officers of some of the most influential art festivals and cultural organisations from across 15 European countries, working with, in and for new art forms in public space. He had the opportunity to exchange views, concerns and ideas regarding new ways of audience development and promotion of contemporary art to the general public of European citizens.
- …Boston and MIT. “Mentor” start-up company, responsible for Eleusis 2021 Marketing Strategy and Communication, represented by Panagiotis Gioka, travelled to Boston. As part of Mentor’s participation in the 4th cycle of the incubator for innovation and entrepreneurship egg, Mentor was selected to participate in the StartMiT program. This is one of the world’s leading programmes in fostering the growth of entrepreneurial ecosystems, organized by the leading American university MIT which gives to the participants the opportunity to be trained by prominent professors, entrepreneurs and business angels.
We collaborated with…
- the European event “Co-creating Europe in 24 cities. How cross-border collaboration can make a difference” organised by the European Cultural Foundation(Amsterdam) and MitOst e.V. (Berlin), in collaboration with Eleusis 2021 and Motus Terrae. More than 30 cultural managers from 24 different European cities visited the city of Elefsina, as 7 of the 15 European teams that have participated in the cultural exchange programme Tandem Europe 2015 – 2017 have presented on Saturday, January 28th their workshops and their installations in different spaces of the city.
