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Γυναικείοι Ψίθυροι (Ελευσίνα 1984-1985) [Women's Whispers (Elefsina,1984-1985)] &

What a Lovely Spot

In Γυναικείοι Ψίθυροι (Ελευσίνα 1984-1985) [Women’s Whispers (Elefsina,1984-1985)], Pegy studies the case of an autonomous group of women, who created their own feminist publication back in the 1980's. Towards the end of the second feminist wave in Greece, independent women's publications were created and distributed in urban centers. However, only one was issued in the periphery: Γυναικείοι Ψίθυροι, published in Elefsina in 1984 and 1985. The magazine was distributed from hand to hand in neighborhoods, schools and feminist bookstores in Athens. It was sold for a token price of 30 drachmas to cover the cost of printing. In the introductory text of the first issue, the authors state that this idea came up while sitting on a bench. Pegy builds a bench back dedicated to these three women and writes a new version of the publication in collaboration with one of its original creators. It can be found at the Elefsina Municipal Library or by scanning the QR code on the back cover of this publication.


What a lovely spot is an in-situ contemporary monument for love in the industrial landscape of Elefsina. It is an act of claiming a public pier through gestures of writing and transplanting and turning it into a romantic space for the queer community of Elefsina.Timothy facilitates a creative writing workshop with queer local people, from which texts and sentences are extracted and later engraved on wooden planks. The planks are placed, filling in the gaps of a neglected wooden pier. At the coastline, at the entrance of the pier, barbary fig cuttings are transplanted from the historic garden of Labros Eftaxias, located just outside Elefsina. They are witnesses/carriers of a non-heteronormative love affair of a previous decade. In the installation, the propagations are used as surfaces on which future queer couples can carve their initials. Along with the barbary fig cuttings, nasturtium seeds are planted, a hermaphroditic edible plant (coming from the artist’s garden) which adds religious and gender connotations to the installation.


Through their work, Pegy and Timothy wish to highlight and emphasize the central position all these bodies should occupy within society. Although these bodies create poiesis, capital, flows and new methodologies for cultural production, they end up being placed in the "periphery" of social structures. In actual fact, these bodies should be the ones that constitute and define the social and economic infrastructure and must be placed at the center of cultural production and everyday life.


Through the view of the installation, the second feminist wave gazes at the fourth and the fourth is gazing at the next ones to come.


Timothy Laskaratos & Pegy Zali


PUBLICATION DATE 2022

PUBLISHING HOUSE Laboratory for the Urban Commons, Athens

LANGUAGE Greek, English

TEXT Timothy Laskaratos, Pegy Zali

PROJECT Timothy Laskaratos, Pegy Zali

SUPPORTED BY The Foundation for Arts Initiatives, 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture.

ISBN 978-618-85684-1-9


The publication is part of the projects Γυναικείοι Ψίθυροι (Ελευσίνα, 1984-1985) [Women's Whispers (Elefsina, 1984-1985)] by Pegy Zali and the What a Lovely Spo by Tomothy Laskaratos, first exhibited at the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture.


Pegy Zali

Γυναικείοι Ψίθυροι (Ελευσίνα 1984-1985) [Women's Whispers (Elefsina,1984-1985)]

Metal, key labels, key rings, stickers, markers, booklet

2022

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Timothy laskaratos

What a lovely spot

Wood, Barbary fig cuttings, Nasturtium seeds, booklet

2022