dima
  • Urban Tells | E.G.Ladopoulos [research, web archive, video performance] 2006

    www.egladopoulos.blogspot.gr
    laboratory for visual arts | department of architecture | university of Patras
    Daphne Aidoni, Elli Vassalou, Marina Biza
    A story, in order to be kept alive, needs to be narrated, a building in order to stay alive needs to be experienced.
    The E.G.Ladopoulos paper industry´s building is one of the most historic industrial sites in the city of Patras and also one of the most forgotten, even though for decades since 1928 the company was one of the largest of the Balkans. In the beginning of the 90´s, within the context of a general deindustrialization, the E.G.L. factory closed, ¨writing the epilogue of Patras´ industrial era¨. Since then, the factory complex remains abandoned, discretely showing the town’s history, a silent witness of the working class living conditions and struggles. A cultural heritage that the institutions decides to forget and hide behind the ¨monuments¨ of the dominant culture. Entering into the former E.G.L. factory, we are trying to approach time and space through various layers, levels and actions. We approach this hidden history seeking the paper industry’s traces: the building complex, the urban myths, the neighbours’ and former workers’ personal memories, the stigma it has left upon working class struggles and the history of the city. We create new narrations through improvisation in the space, letting the body experience and find the stories that need to be told. The archive of this research is published on the internet, creating a new trace of the factory in the world wide web.