ELEU SIS
ELEU SIS is a multidisciplinary project in three parts about Elefsina; a modern Greek city where a history of industrial growth and decline intermingles with ancient myths about life, death, and rebirth.
This project consists of three parallel narrative chapters focused on different time periods, creating a story from the unique social and historical mosaic of the city: “Hominis Ex Machina,” “Initiation,” and “Monologues.”
Chapter I – “Hominis Ex Machina”
In the first chapter, the protagonist is the place, presented through its industry and the people who live there. The place provides the setting and the industrial nature of Elefsina, as the country’s “production machine”, is explored and captured through its recent past and present. The abandoned and destroyed ships in Vlycha are photographed as characters, as portraits, and create memories of the existence of the human workforce of the past.
Chapter II – “Initiation”
The history of Elefsina is an extraordinary narrative of successive transitions that have taken place over the centuries. The city’s founding myth, which revolves around the story of “Persephone”, also known as Kore, the daughter of Demeter, and her perpetual journey to and from the underworld, serves as a record of these transitions and the changing of seasons. This chapter delves into the unseen, mystical, and enigmatic aspects of the city.
To explore these themes, I have created staged images and portraits that can be interpreted literally, allegorically, or mythically. In my narrative, the fluidity of gender roles and identities between males and females engages in a visual dialogue with mythological symbols and the city’s landscape, which is defined by its distinctive and continuous narrative of transitions. These images are an essential element of my narrative, providing a deeper insight into Elefsina’s history and the role of gender in its evolving narrative.
Chapter ΙΙΙ – “Monologues” (ongoing)
An essential aspect of this project is exploring the role of the younger generation in shaping the future of Elefsina. In this chapter, I invite the young residents of Elefsina to participate in my creative process by taking on the role of creator themselves. Inspired by American poet Carolyn Kizer and her poem “Persephone Pauses”, which explores the role and social status of Persephone in the patriarchal world of Greek mythology, I want to encourage young men and women to create their own personal narratives and to question predetermined gender roles within the specific social context of the city. The project aims to explore the extent to which these roles define the youth of Elefsina, who play an active part at the center of the endeavor.