Mystery 171 Constructing Utopia
project
Description
Constructing Utopia was a pedagogical art project within the community of Eleusis. It has gathered artists, pedagogues, and teenagers with the aim to create collective virtual and physical works of art around the themes of utopia and ideal worlds.
With the goal of re-examining the city and the participants’ lives in it, the nine workshops of the project “Constructing Utopia” proposed activities that enhanced the ability to imagine ideal worlds through performing arts, video games, and sculpture. For the implementation of the project, 18 participants (aged 12 to 17) from the Greek city of Eleusis, who frequent the social center “Filiki Folia”, volunteered to meet with a multidisciplinary team of specialists once a week. During the meetings, the participants formulated basic rules of coexistence, a decision-making system, and architectural models of cohabitation. They also proposed a name for their world: “The Utopia of Dreams. Our utopia is beautiful, happy, joyful, ideal, and there are dreams in it”.
The works realized within the program have a material form (three-dimensional maps, LEGO constructions, collective brainstorming sketches, messages to visitors, etc.). Additionally, during the workshops, the participants modelled their ideal world in the video game Minecraft. Through visual creation along with material works of art, the participants have conceptualized in the Utopia of Dreams a fictional way to talk about freedom and desires.
The program Constructing Utopia, conceived by Ioanna Neophytou, was financed by the 2023 ELEVSIS European Capital of Culture. It was designed and implemented in collaboration with the Hellenic Children’s Museum and realized in the facilities of Kentro Agapis Elefsinas – Filiki Folia.
Archival Research
Stages of Implementation
Research and development: 2021-2022
Design and production of the workshop: September 2022 to February 2023
Implementation of the workshop: February to May 2023
Exhibition of the “Utopia of Dreams”: November 9th, 2023 – November 12th, 2023, X-Bowling Art Center, Charilaou 12, Eleusis, as part of the program Culture 2030.
Tickets Policy
Free Admission
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Venue
Axes
Keywords
Διεύθυνση Ενεργοποίησης & Συμμετοχής Κοινού-Πολιτών/Department of Audience Development & Participation, Εμπλοκή Νέων/Youth Engagement, Ανάπτυξη Ικανοτήτων/Capacity Building, Ανάπτυξη Κοινού/Audience Development, Συμπερίληψη/Inclusion, Εμπλοκή Κοινότητας/Community Involvement, Νέα Μέσα Ενημέρωσης/New media, Συμμετοχικός Σχεδιασμός/Participatory Design, Εκπαιδευτικό Πρόγραμμα/Educational Programme, Ανάπτυξη Ικανοτήτων/Capacity Building
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