About 2023 Eleusis
Elefsina Claims the Title of European Capital of Culture
With its designation as European Capital of Culture, Elefsina joins the ever-expanding family of European cities that have hosted the institution. Following a two-year process of preparing the bid book and the various phases of the competition, on November 11th of 2016 the European Commission selected Elefsina as the European Capital of Culture, ahead of Kalamata and Rhodes. Greece was originally scheduled to host the institution in 2021, along with Romania and Serbia. However, to allow greater flexibility in implementing the ECoC programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year for Greece and Romania was postponed to 2023, while for Serbia it was moved to 2022.
Elefsina is the fourth European Capital of Culture hosted in Greece, after Athens (1985), Thessaloniki (1997), and Patras (2006). In 2023, alongside Elefsina, the European Capital of Culture was hosted by the ECoC sister cities Timișoara in Romania and Veszprém in Hungary, fostering strong ties, exchanges and collaborations between the three cities.
Mysteries of Transition
Drawing inspiration from the rich history of the city, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture has developed an integrated artistic, research, and educational programme titled Mysteries of Transition.
Mysteries of Transition, a programme structured around three thematic axes (People-Society, Environment, Labour), as derived from the characteristics of Elefsina and its challenges, deliberately insisted on original creations across all artforms. This expansive programme featured projects and actions inspired by and designed for the city and its issues. Implemented mostly within Elefsina’s geographical boundaries but also in the broader area of the Thriasian Plain, they sought to illuminate and reveal aspects and areas that have largely remained unseen – despite all the challenges this entails.
Although most projects were produced and unveiled in Elefsina itself, their meaning and significance are not limited to it. Instead, they relate to wider contemporary social, economic, environmental, and geopolitical issues and processes that concern places in transition and transformation, as well as the current globalised condition. The European dimension is central to the programme of an ECoC, ensuring that it develops as an international event rather than a purely domestic one. 2023 Eleusis sought to shape the new outward-facing identity of Elefsina, developing an international networking strategy with emphasis on creating strategic partnerships with European networks and organisations. At the same time, the programme integrated substantive actions of reciprocal engagement within its diverse artistic initiatives.
For a considerable period, Elefsina became more active than ever before. It served as an informal “factory of the arts” or a place for “permanent artistic residency,” as, alongside its daily life, it continuously hosted an “unclassifiable” population of art workers from all over the world. Meanwhile, residents of the Thriasian Plain were actively involved and participated to a great extent in the programme, guiding the artists to get to know the place – as witnesses of hidden histories, as professionals, as creators, or protagonists.
2023 Eleusis in Numbers
In the year of the title, 2023 – and until April 2024 – around 450 events were presented as a result of 187 works/projects, while in the preparation phase, since 2017, over 240 art and cultural projects were hosted.
Since 2016, 33 people have been employed at 2023 Eleusis to support the company’s operations, in collaboration with 59 consultants on issues related to cultural, communication, infrastructure, administrative, and legal support. Additionally, more than 90 production companies from Greece and abroad were employed for the implementation of the works/projects of the title year.
From January 2023 to April 2024, more than 550 European and international artists and performers from more than 30 countries participated in the artistic programme of 2023 Eleusis.
During the same period, over 1,500 people from all continents visited Elefsina as part of international visits and conferences, while year-round the events and projects attracted more than 95,000 visitors, of which 29% were residents of the Municipality of Elefsina.
After the Title Year
A European Capital of Culture is not merely a one-year fireworks display of arts and culture. It is a profound, serious, dynamic investment in the economy of the city and the wider region, aiming at the BEYOND: its further continuity and development in all sectors and aspects of life and presence under the vehicle of culture.
This After is divided into two main categories: the tangible and the intangible heritage. The tangible heritage encompasses new buildings, renovated infrastructures, cultural facilities, and other tangible cultural assets created in the context of 2023 Eleusis or on the occasion of hosting the institution in the city. The intangible legacy registers the new cultural institutions, innovative artistic initiatives, or the cultivation of ties with European and international cultural networks that were designed and developed in the context of the 2023 Eleusis artistic programme, and, of course, the knowledge, expertise, ways and methods that were applied in order to make such a long and complex endeavour a reality.
