Mystery 140 Blind guide

Παύλος Παυλίδης(Pavlos Pavlidis); Μαρίνα Καλογήρου(Marina Kalogirou); Gary Salomon; Ελένη Γκουβάτσου(Eleni Gouvatsou); Ανθή Φουντά(Anthi Founta); Ελένη Γκουβάτσου(Eleni Gkouvatsou)

Mystery 140 Blind guide

project

Description

The 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture presented from 27th to the 29th of May at the magnificent Archaeological Site of Elefsina, just at sunset, the site-specific performance – tour Mystery 140 Blind Guide. An inclusive artistic work for people with and without visual disabilities, directed by Pavlos Pavlidis and directed by the blind tour guide Eleni Gouvatsou, inviting all visitors to take part with their eyes closed in a surreal, almost associative and exclusively acoustic journey to the place where the Eleusinian Mysteries were performed. «Just because sight is lost does not mean that man is lost» said the first blind guide, Theodore Konstas, to whom the performance is dedicated. The Mystery 140 Blind Guide starts when the natural light slowly fades. The blind tour guide Eleni Gkouvatsou’s perspective on space, time, dimensions, distances and life, gives new meaning not only to the view of the Elefsina Archaeological Site, but also to the viewers’ sense of the ordinary. Giving vitality to stories from the past and present and as a living Mystery, the performance, like an acoustic tour, leads the audience on a dark but at the same time deeply luminous journey to Hades. Few words about the Blind Guide: In April 2014 the qualification “Guide in museums and archaeological sites (People with visual or hearing impairments)” was added to the 4th IEK of Special Education in Agia Paraskevi, starting its pilot operation. It is now deactivated. In October 2018, Theodore Konstas, the first blind tour guide worldwide, proposed to actress Marina Kalogirou to create a performance – tour in an archaeological site of the country, since despite completing his studies as a blind tour guide, he could not legally practice his profession and make his dream come true. The cultural organisations he contacted did not cooperate with his request. In April 2020, Theodore died. Mystery 140 Blind Guide is inspired by the story of Theodore Konstas, representing a poetical performance – at the same time a realistic proposal for a new way of employment and inclusion for people with disabilities. A representative example is the profession of a tour guide in a country like Greece, with a number of world-renowned archaeological sites.

Artists