Cycladic Paths | Elefsina

On Sunday, October 1, Cycladic Friends participated in an excursion to Elefsina with a program of activities in collaboration with the organization Eleusis 2023.

Our daytrip started from the archaeological site of Elefsina. The Sanctuary of Eleusis was for centuries one of the most important religious centers of antiquity. The cult of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, related to the cultivation of the land, vegetation, fertility as well as the regeneration of nature and life, developed in its place. Then we were guided to the Archaeological Museum where we wandered the important finds that come mainly from the excavations at the sanctuary of Demeter but also from the ancient cemeteries.

After our suggested meal, there was a private tour of the contemporary art exhibition “Elefsina Mon Amour. In Search of the Third Paradise”. The exhibition curated by Katerina Gregou, artistic director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), with the participation of 16 artists from nine countries, the majority of whom have created new works for the exhibition, proposes a socio-political reading of Elefsina and the wider area of the Triassic field.

Our excursion ended with the performance “Human Requiem in Eleusis”. The work is a reconstruction of the Human Requiem, specially designed for the archaeological site of Eleusis based on Johannes Brahms’ work Ein Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem). The ancient sanctuary of Eleusis was transformed into an open public space of collective purification, where text and body, space and sound come together in a single work of art.