Within the European project “Meeting the Odyssey”, Eleusis 2021 presented on Tuesday June 28 at 19:45 the promenade “Routes on Roots” by the group OSMOSIS, directed by Euripides Laskaridis in collaboration with Aspasia-Maria Alexiou and the Association of Asia Minor in Eleusis.
This experiential walk took place in the Settlement of Eleusis, the area in which the Asia Minor refugees of 1922 settled down. Under the inflamer issue of the European borders and the forced population movements around the world, the group focuses on the stories of the inhabitants of the neighborhood. Almost 100 years after the refugees’ arrival from Asia Minor, the current residents of this settlement shared their families’ and personal stories about Minor Asia and Eleusis, activating a series of questions on the concepts of reception, assimilation and adaptation.
The “Meeting the Odyssey” is a four-year cooperative project between 11 cultural organizations from different European countries. Inspired by the myth of Odyssey, 40 artists from different European countries, are sailing on the glorious “Hoppet” across Europe, starting from the Baltic and ending in the Mediterranean. In the cities where they are stopping, they record the modern odysseys of European citizens and based on this material they create four great performances and a series of instant performances, which are the products of dialogue with the local communities and the local artists. The Hoppet arrived in Eleusis in early June and then visited Leros, Lesvos, recording the Odyssey of Syrian refugees.
Returning to Eleusis, “Meeting the Odyssey” met OSMOSIS group and the Association of Asia Minor in Eleusis, which created an instant performance, opening a dialogue on the issues of refugees and uprooting.
The instant performances are performances that are created in a short time through meetings of the artist with the residents of the area.
So, Euripides Laskaridis and OSMOSIS group settled down in Eleusis for 10 days. Through their creative meetings with the Association of Asia Minor in Eleusis, they met numerous residents of the Settlement, their stories, their homes. All this became the material for this experiential promenade, which took place only once on Tuesday June 28, starting from the Museum of Asia Minor in Eleusis and with the participation of the residents of the Settlement.
The project “Meeting the Odyssey” is funded by the “Culture” programme of European Commission. The events to be held in Eleusis are co-funded by the Region of Attica and are carried out in cooperation with the Aeschyleian Festival 2016.
Date: Τuesday 28 June
Time: 19:45
Starting Point: Museum of Asia Minor in Eleusis
Telephone*: 210 55 40 952, 210 55 65 613
*Participation is free but due to limited number of participants (60 people), booking is essential.
