Those of us who passed through the entrance to Warehouse 2 of the Old Olive Mill in Elefsina around the same time found ourselves out of the midday sun in thick darkness. Flinching causes you to unconsciously back away, and unfortunately, the almost reflex action of most was to turn on a cell phone flashlight.

This means that the audience of the visual installation “Mystery 44 – 7 Columns” (until 23/4) of the Cultural Capital, while the light was minimal, circled like big fireflies inside the huge installation of the visual artist and musician Heiner Goebbels. It is difficult in this special state to feel the transformation of a spacious hall into a concert hall, as the artist would like. Yet all it takes is a little patience and perhaps a little preparation for the audience for the work they will be facing.

Respecting the post-industrial history of the plant at the end of the 19th century, its architecture and aesthetics, using elements of light, video projections, water and sound, Goebbels creates a kind of performance, “a space for imagination and contemplation,” as he himself says. .

Videos with choreography created by a group of performers are projected onto solid concrete walls, and instrumental, improvised music plays. The video lasts about thirty minutes and then repeats, changing the lighting of the room. In Vault 2, night follows day in a loop, thickening the flow of time. Goebbels’ decision to include in The Seven Pillars the historical musical recordings of the ethnomusicologist and neo-Hellenist Samuel Bo-Bovi, collected in Greece in the second half of the 20th century, gives this Mystery an emotional charge expressed in words. which should listen to the visitor.

Goebbels’ work includes notes by the ethnomusicologist and neo-Hellenist Samuel Bo-Bovi of Greece in the second half of the 20th century.

In the same area of ​​the Old Olive Oil Factory, one of the exhibitions of the European Capital of Culture 2023 Elefsis institution is also taking place. Located in Warehouse 3, it has free admission like the others and pays homage to Melina Mercouri. Judging by attendance and length of stay in the hall, Mysterio 17 Melina (until 23/4) keeps the public – young and old – with the immediacy of its exhibits about this glamorous and beloved figure of the Greek artistic and political world. : photographs documenting Mercury’s struggle against the dictatorship, original posters from her famous films, her moments with loved ones, original stage costumes from iconic performances, correspondence with prominent figures, and even her dressing room with her personal belongings.

“Mystery of 177 Visions from the Underworld (until 08/04)” curated by Agprognostic Temple is on display at the X-Bowling Art Center, located near Olive Mill, within walking distance of city blocks. Drawing on elements from the Eleusinian Mysteries, this group exhibition of Greek and foreign artists begins with the myth and mysticism that surrounds them. The visitor travels between parallel visual universes that are heterogeneous but have that psychedelic atmosphere that a modern young “mystic” would like to experience.

The tour of the art scene of Elefsina, which has become a cultural capital, ends at the “Mysterio 29 Elefsina – Raw Museum” (until March 26) located in the Old Town Hall. The first stop of this particular exhibition was at the Benaki/Piraeus 138 Museum and now it returns to a city whose identity has been explored from antiquity to the present day. The hall, where a documentary is shown, exploring the visible and invisible side of Elefsina through the testimonies of the inhabitants, is constantly full of spectators. As for the texts, as well as documents explaining the historical path of the city, visitors read them carefully.

Archaeological Museum

The most beautiful end of this visual walk through Eleusis is right next to the Old Town Hall: a stunning urban archaeological site and an open-air museum, organically linked to the Sanctuary of Demeter and the Daughters, where the Great Mysteries, the most famous mystical cult of the ancient world, took place over the centuries. The core of the Elefsina Archaeological Museum building dates from the late 19th century. It is one of the oldest in Greece, with subsequent additions, alterations and renovations of various periods, the last of which took place after the great earthquake of 1999. Recently, the refurbished permanent collection re-exhibition facility was officially opened, enriching the audio-visual surveillance facilities and improving the general visitor experience.