Lavrio, a working-class city in south-eastern Greece, owes its multi-ethnical and multilingual nature to its history as a place of mineral exploitation and, therefore, attractive site for thousand of workers having different origins and backgrounds. It’s from here that the journey of the artistic collective Motus Terrae for the project Monuments of Conflict & Convergence – of which this docu-film is the storytelling – has taken its first steps in 2018.A long researching path began with the first phase of workshops where a group of 30 students from the Technical University of Athens-School of Architecture was asked to map the city not on spaces-basis, as usual, but through the narratives of the first, second and third generation of local inhabitants and by deeply exploring their migration stories. Then the project followed up with a second phase concerning the investigation of the city identity and its capacity to be a melting pot of cultural diversities capable to coexist in a composite social texture: a local team composed of residents and university teachers, have worked together to imagine contemporary monuments able to act at a symbolic level and to represent the social dynamics of both accordance and conflict currently existing in the city.
The third phase, which should have led to a performance in the public space of Lavrio has been stopped, in its creative process, by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. An interrupted path which is given back here under a filming shape. Thus, we follow Michael, the new foreigner, in his walk through the streets, the squares, the suburbs, and with him we catch the outlines, we stop in the significant city’s places either real, concrete, transfigured or imagined…
Monuments of Conflict & Convergence
a Motus Terrae production
Implemented within the frame of Atlas of Transitions – New Geographies for a Cross-cultural Europe project, co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the EU.
Film direction: Spyros Andreopoulos
Filming-Editing: Giorgos Ktistakis
Post production: Giorgos Ktistakis – S. Andreopoulos
Actor: Michael Bamidele-Afolayan
Scenography concept – designs: Edward Georgiou
Music: Nocalypse – “Aggrauche” from the album “Ocean of Inexistence” Triple Bath Records ©2006
Interviewees/core members of the local research/creative team
(in order of appearance):
Ali Kilitc
Dimitris Siamidis
Giorgos Drivas
Stathis Fytros
Participants in the co-creative process:
National Technical University of Athens – School of Architecture (associated partner):
Professors:
Elena Konstandinidou
Penny Koutrolykou
Kostas Moraitis
Students:
Konstantina Anagnou, Konstantinos Argyriou, Elissavet Argyropoulou,
Despoina Zografou, Eleonora Karavani, Eirini-Nefeli Kastrouni, Alexandra Zarani,
Eleni Kyriakopoulou-Dimitriou, Aggelos Pappas, Maria Antonogiannaki,
Anna-Maria Lambrinopoulou, Thaleia Stefanaki, Sofia Theodorou, Natalia Kokkini,
Katerina Fragiskou Mela, Dimitris Tovas, Vassilis Chatzis, Arthur De Cort, Pavlos Kalyfommatos, Athina Moraiti, Anna Prasinou, Efi Avramila, Marissa Goula, Victoria Klinaki
Local team:
Giorgos Varyhtimiadis
Dimitris Siamidis
Giorgos Drivas
Ali Kilitc
Stathis Fytros
Panagiotis Moutsis
Konstantinos Tzannis
Mimis Deligiannis
Sofia Nerantzi
with the collaboration and support of:
Technological – Cultural Park of Lavrio
Industrial Museum of Lavrio
Municipality of Lavrio – Cultural Department
“Mithridatis” – Pontics Association of Lavrio
“Agia Eirini” – Thirians Association of Lavrio
Association of Minorasians-Constantinopolitans of Lavrio
Special thanks to:
Christina Dezagiacomo for her priceless contribution and support
Asimakis Hadoumelis, Olga Seni, Eva Tsirou
and the staff of Technological – Cultural Park of Lavrio
Marilena Marmani (Municipality of Lavrio – Direction of Education/Culture)
Evaggelia Veletakou (Municipality of Lavrio – Cultural Department)
Andonis Papakonstantinou – Taxivan
and all the local merchants/enterprises who catered for the project’s needs
for the duration of the workshops, meetings and creation period.
