ELEYSIS means Arrival of the Remarkable. If someone manages to change Elefsina, he can change the whole world”, an artist once said. And Elefsina indeed has many reasons to want to change. The small town of 25,000 inhabitants, 21 kilometres west of Athens, is not beautiful, it is not picturesque. It is not the Greece we know from tourist photos. The towns with narrow alleys, crowded taverns and blue beaches. Here everything is different. Low houses, industries, sailing boats slowly dying in the bay of Vlycha. But also people smiling, welcoming and often yards tended with freshly watered flowers. Elefsina is the other face of an unprominent Greece. But a face that is authentic, wounded, silent, full of dignity. On Saturday 4 February, Elefsina becomes one of the three European Capitals of Culture for 2023. The smallest and the most ancient to date. In the homeland of Aeschylus, the great ancient tragedian, 465 events will take place in 30 venues by 192 Greek and 137 foreign artists. The programme is entitled ‘Mysteries of Transition’ and is developed around three central themes: Man and Society, Environment, Labour. Entrance to the events is free of charge.
In this episode, artistic director of the opening ceremony Chris Baldwin the director, born and bred in Elefsis, Christos Dimas, talks to us about all that makes Elefsina the ideal cultural European capital for the pairing of artists from the whole spectrum of arts.