Persephone, The Red Carpet (2023)
Directed by Joshua Olsthoorn, Madlen Anipsitaki & Simon Riedler
Duration: 58 mins
Celebrated in ancient times during the Eleusinian Mysteries, Persephone, goddess of the underworld and the cycle of the seasons, is revived as a red carpet. Persephone, the red carpet appears, disappears, unfurls and wanders through contemporary Eleusis. In collective performances, to the sound of Andreas Polizogopoulos’s trumpet, she passes from foot to hand to head, from neighborhood to neighborhood. Through ritual gestures, residents from different neighborhoods and backgrounds rewrite the myth of Persephone; and the red carpet, originally an aristocratic symbol reserved for gods, becomes a symbol of equality and unity.
The film Persephone, the red carpet brings to the screen Collectif MASI’s socio-mythological sculpture with and for the people of Elefsina, created in June 2023 as part of ELEVSIS 2023, European Capital of Culture. It is directed by the MASI Collective (Madlen Anipsitaki & Simon Riedler) and Joshua Olsthoorn, with financial support from the French Institutes of Greece and Paris.