MotorWay 6 – BUSART

Synikismos Festival 2019

MotorWay 6

the film by Evi Kalogiropoulou that juxtaposes two symbols: the PYRKAL munitions factory building and the bodies of the athletes of the “Elefsis” club, of Albanian, Pomak and Pakistani origin.

29–30 June 2019

“Elefsis” Martial Arts Centre, 7 Chatzidaki Street, Eleusis, and 3rd Primary School, 85 Dardanellion Street, Eleusis

Evi Kalogiropoulou

Motorway 6 deals with questions of the body and of going beyond it.

Visual artist Evi Kalogiropoulou came to know Eleusis during the international artist residency programme Initiator in autumn 2018, where she came into contact with the athletes of the “Elefsis” martial arts centre, many of whom are of Albanian and Pomak origin, and later with the Pakistani community.

These encounters created the conditions for a new work consisting of a video artwork, a sound performance and a meal with traditional cuisine and music in collaboration with the Pakistani community.

Kalogiropoulou juxtaposes two symbols: the PYRKAL munitions factory building, an abandoned body of concrete, and the bodies of the athletes of “Elefsis”. In her work we encounter the two sides of the body: on the one hand brutality, reflected in the abandoned factory and in the violent effects of industrial labour on the body; on the other, beauty, symbolised by the human body, which acquires a positive dimension through play and sport.

Through these contrasts Kalogiropoulou aims to bring visibility to, and empower, socially vulnerable groups who fight their own “battle”, while the work is also a comment on labour and industrial production, both synonymous with Eleusis.

video credit: digaPictures, Eleusis 2021