THE E-RESIDENCY PROJECT ADDRESSES JEWELRY MAKERS, VISUAL ARTISTS, DESIGNERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, CRAFTERS, CERAMISTS, PERFORMERS, FILMMAKERS, ART THEORISTS WHO WISH TO DIVE INTO THE GREEK MYTH OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
For 2,000 years, a farming community close to Athens was the spiritual center of the ancient world. Pilgrims from all over came to Eleusis* (modern-day Elefsina) to be initiated to mysteries – secret ceremonies - befriending them with death. Men, women, free people, and slaves, Greeks and foreigners watched the myth of Persephone staged and revived in the sacred site of Eleusis, and witnessed the young goddess returning from Hades.
Sacred rituals including recitation, performance, and presentation of sacred objects taught initiates the secret of immortal bliss. If it were not one of the most important religious ceremonies of the ancient world, it could have been one of the most glamorous art events of all times.
The Road to Elefsina e-Residency focuses on the myth of a girl becoming a woman and the art representations connected to it, as well as on the social background, history and concepts of the Eleusinian mysteries.
Participants of the e-Residency are challenged to explore the myth of Persephone, her sacred marriage and death, and give their own interpretation of eternal flow.
* Elefsina is European Capital of Culture 2023, and offers a wide range of events and shows throughout the year.
The e-Residency aims at making contact with the participants' own past through games of divination; an online oracle retrieves the missing links in each participant's artist narrative and shapes them into a powerful video script.
The program offers insight into the vast history of Greek civilization, makes it easy and approachable, and adds meaning to the e-residents’ work and art understanding.
The e-Residency program also teaches participants how to make their presentations meaningful, surprising and irresistible through words, plot, performance, objects and video.
“The Road to Elefsina” e-Residency addresses artists from various disciplines, placing emphasis on objects, performance, jewelry, textiles, and their special connection with mysteries of transcendence.
The mysteries of Eleusis were taught by revealing sacred objects to the initiates during the ceremony of the midnight sun. What kind of objects were shown to illustrate the meaning of life and the antidote to death is a question that remains to be answered. We can only speculate how the sacred objects would look like today to reflect sustainable values.
The Road to Elefsina encourages the participants to imagine answers to this question. It addresses the need of individual artists and artist communities for an ethical restart; it also takes into account that applied art and jewelry - art objects that can be used - can play an important role in reshaping standards and status quo symbols in times of climate change, social and political unrest.
• Watch the video trailer! •
The e-Residency program includes video-recorded tours in Athens and Eleusis designed for artists, online workshops on storytelling, performance, communication and video, as well as an introduction on Greek heritage. It also promotes the e-residents’ work through an online presentation, a magazine publication and participation in the SMCK On Reel video festival at Munich's international “Schmuck” Jewelry Week 2024.
The e-Residency takes place in either weekend listed below.
Individual residencies are also available upon request.
• Video-recorded online tours in Athens and Elefsina
• Online workshops: history and mythology of Elefsina / narrative and storytelling / concept and storyboard / video art and photography
• Concept, idea and design of objects / performance practice / video script and shooting
• Promotion and publication of the participants' work in SMCK Magazine
• Video presentation during SMCK On Reel video festival at "Schmuck" Munich's Jewelry Week 2025
• Option to sell jewelry and small objects online
• Project documentation on the SMCK homepage and KLIMT02 website.
e-Residency total hours: 8 hours
Maximum number: 8 participants per group
Participation fee: 300,00 euro, payable in two or three installments.
DATES
Saturday 20 + Sunday 21 April 2024 (8 hours)
OR
Saturday 11 + Sunday 12 May 2024 (8 hours)
Please send your application to magazine@smck.org and include: a cover letter with your motivation, a recent CV or bio, your website and/or social media link(s) and your desired eResidency dates.
Application deadline is Monday, 8 April 2024.
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