Music | Theater | Visual Arts | Festival | Interdisciplinary Art Projects | Education

From September to November, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture organizes a rich programme of actions and events.

In the fall of 2023, in the final stretch to welcome the European Capital of Culture title year, 2023 Eleusis presents a rich programme of activities and events that includes Art Exhibitions, Theatrical Performances, Educational actions, Training Programs, Festivals, Interdisciplinary Art Projects and Open Calls for original projects.

Legacy actions such as the region’s first ECOCULTURE Festival at the formerly abandoned camping site OASIS, the 3rd edition of the Culture 2030 Meeting on Cultural Industry, as well as original events, such as the multidisciplinary action by Georgia Mavragani, Music from the Houses, focused on the very houses of Elefsina, the tribute to Asia Minor through the puppet theater performance on Rebetiko music (REBETIKO) and the performance I_LEFT Asia Minor by Yolanda Markopoulou that returns to the city’s neighborhoods, beloved actions such as the Nights of Slowness at the chapel of Agios Nikolaos and the Clock Tower Voices at the archaeological site are some of the events that bring Elefsina to the forefront of educational, research and artistic interest this fall.

Particular emphasis should be given to the strategic partnerships of 2023 Eleusis such as the continuous and significant collaboration with the Aeschylia Festival for the organization of the visual arts exhibition by Kostis Velonis, “Straw falling on concrete floors.” New collaborations also include a partnership with the Benakis Museum for the exhibition-ode to the city of Elefsina, entitled Eleusis. Raw Museum, curated by Erato Koutsoudaki, as well as a partnership with the University of Patras, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the University of West Attica for the establishment of Open University – IN SITU, focused on the environment and culture.

The programme also includes educational activities for children, such as Mystikit Eleusis – Educational Suitcase, which will travel to schools across Greece, as well as the gardening workshop for children ages 7 to 12, Modular Gardens, which combines gardening with new technologies.

For more details on the programme of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture:

September

Mystery 22 | Straw falling on concrete floors– Kostis Velonis
#Visualarts

From August 28 to October 23, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, in collaboration with the Aeschylia Festival, hosts the in situ sculptural installation by renowned visual artist Kostis Velonis, drawing inspiration from the mythological and historical tradition of Elefsina.

Mystery 52 | Mystikit Eleusis – Educational Suitcase
#Education

The start of September marks the beginning of the action Mystery 52 | MYSTIKIT Eleusis – Educational Suitcase in the schools of Elefsina. It is an initiative by the Very Young Contemporary Art group, presented in the form of a comprehensive Dο It Yourself – action and exploration kit, which provides students with the necessary equipment for research, walking, on-site observation and recording inside and outside the school environment, in order to see everyday life as an opportunity for artistic practice.

It is also worth noting that 2023 Eleusis has supported the Union of Oral History, which organizes in Elefsina, on Saturday September 17 and Sunday September 18, the workshop seminar “Oral history in Museums.” Participants will have the opportunity to approach the challenges that arise during the processes of utilization of oral testimonies in museums and exhibition spaces in general.

Mystery 50 | ECOCULTURE Festival
#Festival #Environment

The first ECOCULTURE Festival in Elefsina is presented on September 24 and 25. Drawing its theme from the environment, ecology and sustainability, this model institution—which is one of the key legacy actions of the 2023 Eleusis programme—combines interdisciplinary dialogue with architectural design and the arts, while activating the former camping site OASIS in a celebration of the environment, open to visitors of all ages. The Festival’s first edition will also feature ΕcocultureDialogues, a series of diverse and interesting actions and discussions on sustainable innovation and agri-food, as well as Mystery 41 | Design Campus, a participatory workshop to explore the environmental challenges of the city in order to design interventions and strategies towards sustainable urban regeneration. Lastly, our younger friends will have the opportunity to attend Mystery 46 | Modular Gardens, a gardening workshop for children, ages 7-12, which combines gardening with new technologies.

Mystery 38 | Music from the houses
#Interdisciplinaryartproject

In September 24 and 25, under the directorial curation of Georgia Mavragani, the audience is called to participate in field trips through the city’s neighborhoods, listening to selected music diffused into the public space through the doors and windows of the city’s houses.

Mystery 49 | Symposia
#Gastronomy

The programme is complemented by an action concerning the gastronomical traditions of Elefsina, with the participation of local cultural associations.

Mystery 5 | Words on the Wall – The City as a Reading
#Interdisciplinary project

In mid-September, the third edition of Mystery 5 | Words on the Wall – The City as a Reading, draws its theme from the Asia Minor Catastrophe. A special action that includes a series of medium and small-scale short texts, poems and phrases, an open urban interpretation, activating various parts of the city of Elefsina.

Μυστήριο 8 | With an eye turned to Japan
#Interdisciplinaryartproject

The action by 2023 Eleusis, in collaboration with the organization EU Japan Fest, under the artistic curatorship of Mikiko Kikuta, concerns the artistic residency of a Greek photographer in Osaka and then in Elefsina, and the presentation of the original photographs—the fruits of the aforementioned residency—which will be published and exhibited in Elefsina. The photographer will be selected by Kikuta after an open call for professional visual photographers, to be announced by 2023 Eleusis in September 2022

Mystery 7 | Open University – IN SITU
#Education

Eleusis proceeds with the establishment and operation of Mystery 7 | Open University – IN SITU, in collaboration with the University of Patras, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the University of West Attica. The programme of the new institution, which will be addressed mainly to the residents of Elefsina and the surrounding areas, aims to cultivate free thinking and provide a high level of scientific knowledge to a large and diverse audience, in terms of age, social or educational background. The first two workshops will be held in September and November, while the seminars will take place at the Elefsina-West Attica Labor Center (EKEDA), from April to November 2023.

Mystery 13 | I-LEFT Asia Minor
#Theater

An important theatrical chronicle about forced displacement and the refugees that marked the history of Elefsina from the beginning of the 20th century until today, returns to the city’s neighborhoods. Mystery 13 | I-LEFT Asia Minor, directed by Yolanda Markopoulou, takes place as part of RefuGe, from September 30 to October 9. People from Pontos and Asia Minor changed the life of Elefsina, passing the torch to today’s refugees who are struggling to find their place in the world and the region. The common elements that emerge effortlessly from the narratives of refugees from each group and each generation become the raw material for the composition of a timeless palimpsest of pain, on the feeling of being uprooted from one’s homeland, with Elefsina as its epicenter.

October

Mystery 62 | Nights of Slowness – Discourses about Time
#Interdisciplinaryartproject

On October 9, the landmark action returns under the directorial curation of Yannis Leontaris in the courtyard of the church of Agios Nikolaos, within the archaeological site of Elefsina. The fourth edition of the series of original discussion about the concept of time, with distinguished guests under the light of the full moon.

Mystery 29 | Eleusis. Raw Museum
#Visualart #History

From October 13 to November 27, the city of Elefsina introduces itself to the general public with the Exhibition Mystery 29 | Eleusis. Raw Museum, at the Benaki Museum (138 Pireos Str.). An emblematic project by the organization of the Cultural Capital, under the curation of architect-museologist Erato Koutsoudaki, as part of the theme “People-Society,” on the pieces that for the mosaic of the phenomenon of “Elefsina,” now and in the past.

Mystery 82 | REBETIKO
#Puppettheater

On October 22, the X – Bowling Art Center will host Mystery 82 | REBETIKO by Anima Theatre (FR), directed by Giorgos Karakantzas. Rebetiko is a puppet show that tells the story of forced displacement and fruitless survival, captured in the form of an Odyssey. A wandering displacement in space and time that draws its material from earlier and contemporary refugee narratives, but also from the particular musical paths of their tradition.

Mystery 54 | Mobile Workshop
#Education

October also marks the launch of the brief workshops introducing primary education children to new construction technologies, as part of the ΚΑΙΕΚ Program (Capacity Building and Applied Innovation Center). Both the educational and practical parts of the workshop are based on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 21st century skills and the electronic thinking of computers.

November

Mystery 56 | the 3rd “Culture 2030” Meeting
#Education

The meeting is held between November 10-13 at the Elefsina-West Attica Labor Center (EKEDA), transforming Elefsina for four days into a workshop, exploring a new model of cultural operation. An important legacy program, a 4-day celebration filled with discussions, workshops and networking activities on matters of artistic citizenship, the art of sociability and the cultural development of cities and communities in general, as well as presentations of artistic works, with the participation of theorists, artists and cultural professionals from Greece and abroad, as well as representatives of local government and ordinary citizens and residents of the city.

Mystery 2 | Clock Tower Voices
#Interdisciplinaryartproject

Having acquired a character of regular periodicity, the series of original artistic meetings under the Clock, in the emblematic Archaeological Site of Elefsina, returns on November 13 with distinguished guests to be announced soon. The activation of the landmark of the Clock, both symbolically and literally, places the action at the heart of Elefsina, while the pedestrian street next to the archaeological site functions as a place of public meeting for residents and visitors, spectators of the action.

Mystery 7 | Αtelier for Art Producers
#Education

The training progamme will be held between November 28-30 by FESTIVAL ACADEMY VZW, in collaboration with the Drosos Foundation and the Zoukak Theatre Company Beirut. Exploring all the phases of festival programming, as well as the production of an artistic work, the aim of the action is to delve into all the phases and challenges of the professional field of the participants, selected from different parts of the world through an open call.

Detailed information about the fall programme will be announced soon