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BUDKA
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Hanna-Maria Hammari, lie in wait 29.9.2019 - 27.10.2019
REFLECTED POSITIONS Kunsthalle Tbilisi at the State Silk Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia 25.10.2019 - 30.11.2019
Tbilisi Architecture Biennial Complex of Mukhatgverdi cemetery in Tbilisi
Exhibition and a book launch 24.10.2019 - 08.12.2019 Project ArtBeat Gallery
propaganda.network Social ecologies 2020
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Gallery Nectar Page __ Kunsthalle Tbilisi
Vakhtang Beridze
Exhibition 19.10 - 14.12 opening : October 19, 18:00
Gallery Nectar Bochorishvili st. 89 Tbilisi 0160 (next to the presidental library) gallerynectar.ge
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architectural complex of Mukhatgverdi cemetery in Tbilisi David Bostanashvili
Tbilisi Architecture Biennial is Co-funded by the Creative Europe
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Tbilisi Architecture Biennial
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*** The unique architectural complex of Mukhatgverdi cemetery in Tbilisi comes up in public memory only when cremation is the topic of the conversation. Mukhatgverdi complex shares the fate of modernist architectural heritage: culture has forgotten them. Culture has two mechanisms: saving the information and forgetting it. If we follow this idea of Y. Lotman, forgetting is also part of the cultural process. What is the ideology behind forgetting the Soviet architectural heritage? We all have some idea about this: forgetting is the only thing that 70 years of oppressive experience deserve. But many cultural achievements that were part of the same experience (Georgian cinema, theater, national ballet, poetry) have become an integral part of our cultural identity. Why couldn’t the buildings, whose only “crime” was that they were built in 1921 – 1990, also become parts of our cities’ identities? It is rather surprising that semiotic systems like cinema, theater or poetry, whose function is to represent a meaning and who, therefore, cannot exist beyond their ideology, have escaped the Soviet stigma so easily. No one equates the masterpieces of Georgian cinema, poetry, literature with Soviet ideology. The idea that architecture conveys a meaning (that semiotics of architecture is possible) always raises questions. I can say based on my personal experience that it is quite difficult to convince the audience that architecture is a meaning-generating and narrative phenomenon. And yet, the Soviet-era buildings are considered to be the main carriers of the notion of “the Soviet”. “The typical example of the Soviet architecture” – even this is said in reference to the Mukhatgverdi cemetery. However, this complex can be accused on many things except being typical. It is the creation of a
Georgian architect Viktor Jorbenadze. Built in the 1970s, the complex expresses purely architectural concept of Butsa. (Butsa – this was the childhood nickname by which he was known to the public). Its meaning is twofold: on the one hand, it represents Butsa’s personal propensity for plasticity of the walls. He made his crown achievement in this regards at the Palace of Rituals in Tbilisi. But to say that this building is only a key to Jorbenadze’s biography and to his main creation is not sufficient for actualization of the topic. In general, the complex represents an important stage in the search for plastic architectural language. It is a structure of global importance (it even tries to create a less intimidating, regional version of brutalism). Plasticity of the walls (bringing to memory the walls of Georgian fortresses), multilevel allocation of space, and integration with the surrounding landscape are the tools that make Jorbenadze’s buildings light and transparent. The plasticity of the walls is so intertwined that Jorbenadze’s space becomes open and fluid, and blank walls can hardly be accused of being “mute”: their silhouettes are the best example of architectural expression; this expressive force becomes a polyphonic “song” in the interplay of “blank” walls and the sunlight. Jorbenadze’s interest in plastic capabilities of walls stemmed from Georgian architectural traditions. To these traditions he dedicated an extensive article entitled “The Architectural Dimensions of Mtskheta, Georgia’s First Capital.” Butsa’s architecture (and Mukhatgverdi complex is one of the best examples of this) combines architectural brutalism and tenderness of the form, contemporary global trends of the time and local traditions, the Soviet context and the inner world of the artist.
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Photo by Tako Robakidze
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Tbilisi Architecture Biennial
The Mukhatgverdi complex consists of three buildings. The first visual reference point is a standalone tower of the crematorium. Every tower, in essence, is independent of functional program: its form is entirely determined by architectural themes. The Mukhatgverdi tower seems like a sum of the architectural vocabulary of the entire complex: animated walls have openings in strategic areas creating masterful architectural details. The ability of walls to create curves is a favorite theme of the architect (“I see the glory of the curves – what an abundance”) that was fully expressed in the Palace of Rituals. The two functional buildings of the complex also follow the themes set by the tower. The form follows the theme. One’s function is administrative, and the other’s is ritualistic. But the form tells us nothing about this: one cannot guess which one is for what: both remain committed to the theme. We can see the key to the theme in the layout of the complex. The plan clearly demonstrates the space synthesis narrative. It all begins with a wall that curves and never joins another wall mechanically. The walls frame the space in such a way that they never join one another. The “sharp and supple finishing of lines” can be observed here really well. Space flows through the openings created as a result of this lack of convergence, and volume-wise it generates twofold effect: it provides light to the interior and, when viewed from a distance, it visually breaks up the architectural mass.
*** Butsa was a Soviet man by passport and a citizen of the realm of architecture by his mentality. His legacy reminds us that architecture is created not by the epochs but by personalities. And the cultural underpinnings of Butsa’s personality are the same as those of the representatives of Georgian poetry, cinema and theater who happened to live in the Soviet era. Ultimately, three major themes can be identified: personality, (Soviet) epoch, and the building “on its own”. With regard to architecture, by forgetting the personality, culture remembers a connection between the era and the building. An essential part of the ongoing cultural process is putting the memory to the test: how is the particular cultural text remembered? In this case: how a connection between the buildings built in the Soviet era and the times is stored in the memory? It must to be said that lately the architectural culture has been actively working on analyzing its own memory. In this regard, Tbilisi Architecture Biennial (2018) became a driver for the architectural cultural process. Within the framework of the Biennial, the Mukhatgverdi complex was revived in the memory, and this implies reinterpretation. A tour was arranged, allowing several dozen guests to the Biennial to experience firsthand the architectural quality of the Mukhatgverdi complex. After the Biennial, the question is actively asked: what could be the future of a functionless crematorium? _
Tower Scheme by David Bostanashvili
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Project ArtBeat
Project ArtBeat presents:
Mamuka Japharidze’s retrospective exhibition and a book launch 24/10/2019 - 08/12/2019 Project ArtBeat Gallery, 14 Pavle Ingorokva street, Tbilisi, Georgia
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Invitation to collaborate __
Greg Lindquist
During an 11 day visit to Tbilisi in 2009, these architectural sites were photographed as intended source material for paintings that comprised a gallery installation of painting and sculpture in 2010. I became aware of Rustavi from my brother, who at the time was an economic advisor of Georgia for the United States Department of Treasury, and I was hosted by his colleague, the resident advisor in Tbilisi. Revisiting this original documentation rather than their corresponding aestheticized paintings, I am struck by the necessity of a critical economic, social, ecological, ideological, and political framework in order to fully grasp the historical gravity of their existence. These crumbling ruins signify the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting disappearance of steel and concrete production just as much as the repurposing of the Ministry of Transportation building for the national headquarters of the Bank of Georgia signifies the steady absorption of Georgia into a global neoliberal economic regime. In either situation, capital will inevitably cannibalize these spaces if ecological collapse doesn’t first.
Greg Lindquist, Rustavi, October 10, 2009
Greg Lindquist, Rustavi, October 10, 2009
Greg Lindquist, Rustavi, October 10, 2009
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Social Ecologies A PROJECT September 2020
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Contemporary Art Archive
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Celebrating Bauhaus: A Brief Visit to Germany
8 2019.09 d___e__s_i___g___ n_t___b i l i s i As it was already published in July and August issues of Design Tbilisi, International Design School (IDS), the first fully English-language faculty of Georgian Technical University (GTU), held series of internal competitions to select 8 best students for traveling to Germany to join worldwide celebrations of Centenary of Bauhaus – perhaps the most important design school in modern history. In September 2019, the group of eight students and 2 teachers from IDS had successfully completed their eight-day visit to Germany which was sponsored by GTU and co-sponsored by Claus Hipp, Professor Honoris Causa of GTU. Here are the first impressions on this trip from the IDS students, who are preparing a video film about the visit, and are also conducting individual studio projects inspired by Bauhaus places and works:
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Keti Zhorniaki
DAY 4: This was the day we had visited Berlin’s most interesting and valuable places. The history and architecture was impressive. That day we saw how Berlin lights at night Maria Chitorelidze
Our trip to Germany was unexpectedly good. We met different types of people, saw different places from our own different points of view. My impressions about Bauhaus was satisfying. I would separate Bauhaus of Dessau as a source of inspiration. If you could be a student of Gropius, you shouldn’t create boring things. The main good thing about this trip was that I made really good friends and I met my old friends living abroad.
The Bauhaus era is so fascinating for me! Visiting these historical places was perfect. Moreover, my expectations were completely fulfilled.Walter Gropius - The Man Who Built the Bauhaus. The world remembers him as an innovative architect of pared-down modernist buildings and the founder of the Bauhaus, a revolutionary school of art and design. His aim was to bring architects, designers and artists together in a working community to create what he called the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art. Bauhaus school somehow inspires. Being in the workshop rooms make you feel to want to create something valuable. Entering Walter Gropius’ room make you knees shaking, because when you understand that in this room, on this table was sitting Walter Gropius and other directors, such genius persons, it makes you feel closer to them. The Bauhaus intended to change this feeling about the arts. The Bauhaus wanted to create products that were simple in design. Of all the principles taught at the Bauhaus, form follows function summed up the school’s main philosophy. Gropius employed some of the most outstanding and well-known artists of the 20th century, Laszlo Moholy Nagy, Paul Klee, and Vasyli Kandinsky. Visiting master houses and seeing workspaces where all these masterpieces were created, it was breathtaking. Maria Chitorelidze
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The best memory from the trip was visiting Sanssouci Palace and gardens. It was like a fairytale and I wished for living in the period which Sanssouci masters lived. For me this place is associated with Babilon's hanging gardens.
We had a mesmerizing experience by visiting the Bauhaus School and directors’ houses in Dessau. As an amazing Russian guide (and graduate from the school) shared with us her imagination, it would be great to live the life of a student of the school and create experiments with masters in their time. I myself would be more than happy to do just that during this trip.
Keti Zhorniaki
DAY 5: On Day 5 we went to Alexanderplatz, Berlin’s main square, and learned that on every weekend a fair is organized with amazing traditional German food, rides and a lot of street events. There were many stores around the square, too. Later we visited Berlin Wall Gallery on the east side, which had many unique graffiti and paintings across the entire stretch. It was indeed a pleasant day! Vanessa Genetta Fernandes
It was a wonderful experience! Every day, we had a different and exciting event planned for us. I’ve learnt about the history and culture of Germany. Visiting Bauhaus was a great opportunity given by the University! I learned a lot about the history of the School and how design has developed since, in the rest of the 20th century. How even the most simple ideation and implementations of principles and elements can create incredible designs. I am thankful that I was one among the 8 students to travel for the Bauhaus Centenary and I hope to visit many more places and learn more about design throughout my study here. Vanessa Genetta Fernandes Our Germany trip was full of great stories. Berliners are very free and comfortable people. Great food, the best beer, museums, art, cars:), bicycles (we didn’t ride (unfortunately)), nature, zoo. Capital of Germany was so impressive and dynamic… Bauhaus, in one word, was inspiring. It’s a zenith of world design. Even better than I had hoped. As a designer and photographer, I can say that, it was shocking and unforgettable. Must see place. Probably the best days in my life.
Mariam Gakhokidze. DAY 1: Berlin is a pulsating, exciting city with so many various and distinctive neighborhoods, iconic history and buildings all around. No other city has the 20th century’s European history encased in its urban fabric like the German capital. Berlin is now home to some impressive mix of Modernist architecture, from Brutalist to Bauhaus, and new era of aesthetics and Postmodern design. I personally had a chance to see and meet one of the Germany’s leading architecture company “GKK” and their founders Oliver Kuhn and Swantje Kuhn. Nick Zaalishvili
Travelling experience to Germany for Bauhaus 100-year anniversary was mesmerizing, different from other travels in a way. As a future graphic designer, I explored interesting topics: Bauhaus in relation to design, psychoanalysis, geometry, early childhood education and popular culture. The school's aims, achievements, ideals, and editorial concepts had clearly become visible to me. As a cross disciplinary student group from Georgia, we explored Bauhaus from the viewpoints that would not have brought the same inspirations without visiting the places of true masters, craftsmen and school directors. At the end, I want to thank all the individuals and groups that made possible financing and supporting our travel: GTU, Dean and Manager of the faculty, Prof. Dr. Claus Hipp, Bauhaus guide…. Mariam Gakhokidze
Ekuna Tavshavadze
DAY 2: Small museum with a huge history and creative atmosphere. Weimar - birthplace of modern art. Ekuna Tavshavadze
What could be more exciting for a student of architecture and design than seeing the works of her favorite ones in real life?! Walking through the halls of Bauhaus and feeling the real atmosphere of the building where Gropius, Meyer, Mies and many others spent years - is the most memorable experience from this tour in Germany. Of course, Berlin itself is full of beautiful sightseeing from the cathedral (Berliner Dom) to the Holocaust memorial. We even visited the famous Zoo and its aquarium. Nearby city of Potsdam with its palaces, gardens and fountains took us back to the 18th century. We spent our last days in beautiful Bavaria, tasted beer on Octoberfest and dined with Claus Hipp in Munich. Mariam Akhalaia
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We flew from Berlin to Munich. After walking in the city center, we went to Nymphenburg palace. The view with a castle of nymphs on a rainy day looked like a beautiful painting.
The sky was blue and the grass was green... The birds were chirping and curious children peering through the screen... The air was fresh...the sun was bright... Oh it was glorious to be wrapped in this total delight... The streets were filled with young and old.... To watch the treasures of yore which were untold.... The spires and arches stood with such majesty... Built by kings and queens of various dynasty... Through the valleys and far beyond the river The beauty will forever rest hither... And as time and years pass us by... This memory will be etched in our hearts even though we bid goodbye...
Mari Akhalaia
Samuel Anil Page designed by International Design School Bachelor student Mariam Gakhokidze
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Budka
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Kunsthalle Tbilisi
Image credits: Nino Kvrivishvili. Do You Want to Live in Paradise, 2019. Installation view Courtesy of Kunsthalle Tbilisi
REFLECTED POSITIONS ALICJA KWADE AND NINO KVRIVISHVILI Kunsthalle Tbilisi at the State Silk Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia October 25 – November 30, 2019 Curated by Office for Art, Berlin, Nathalie Hoyos and Rainald Schumacher in collaboration with Irena Popiashvili. Opening reception, Thursday, October 25, 19:00 The exhibition Reflected Positions – Alicja Kwade and Nino Kvrivishvili brings together two artists, whose works could hardly be more different at first glance. But it’s not only this, the exhibition is also a platform to create a dialogue that extends to considerations about the different conditions of production and of the reception of artistic work in Europe. Alicja Kwade is interested in visual reception of the reality. Objects that we know as straightforward are bent at once. The hands of a clock tick invisibly behind a mirrored glass. Stone boulders are real or have an identical twin with a chrome finish or painted bronze. Many pieces work with the visual appearance of the real object and the image of the object in a mirror. The work is concentrated on basics of our being in the world, on time and space and the reflection of what is real. What is only imagined and what stays outside of the imagination. Works on paper in the exhibition address the theme that time is such an unimaginable concept. Made visible by the positions of the hands of an analogue watch. A burnt down candle is also a symbol of the passing of time. In one work of the exhibition such candle stumps form a circle, an endless repetition of past moments. Another work confronts a simple wooden beam with a kind of sibling, a beam cast in bronze. The works of Alicja Kwade command a certain technical perfection. The traces of manual work are hidden behind the impeccable surfaces or are fading away in the non-reality of a mirrored image or duplicated object. Nino Kvrivishvili works with wool and silk, with fabrics and threads and the manual activities of weaving, carpet weaving or felt making. She integrates found fabrics and materials like silken braids, handmade lace and embroideries. Her pieces integrate the many layers of the sophisticated craftmanship of textile producing. Most of which originated from the work of women. It was made for use in real life and pursued a concept to make things more beautiful, richer and more decorated. Her objects bear the traces of manual labour. The imperfection and roughness of rather raw and irregular materials stay visible. Her objects do not mirror the outside world. They are part of the outside world. They are real and convey haptic sensations. In the exhibition white painted used cardboard boxes are transformed into frames and pedestals. They are becoming part of the art piece and are decorated by such braids. Found old photographs add a layer of personal and private narratives and moments in time filled with memories. Dark black felt pieces devour the light and every reflection. The have the quality of a black hole and the magic of the complete opposition to all colours and light. The two artistic approaches, their aesthetics and the conditions of production are the two sides of the same coin. Artists have the privilege to work in a field of complete liberty. This freedom allows to develop a highly individual and personal relation to the social and political reality and to life and nature. Both artistic intentions are the reflections of their individual positioning to the world and in such a way signpost to contribute to the understanding of a rather complex reality between far Eastern Europe and Central West Europe. Exhibition is made possible by the support of IFA. _
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LC QUEISSER
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Installation view, Hanna-Maria Hammari, lie in wait, 2019 LC Queisser, Tbilisi Image: Angus Leadley Brown
LC QUEISSER Tsinamdzgvrishvili st. 49, Tbilisi, Georgia www.lc-queisser.com
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October _
GALLERIES, TBILISI September 26 - October 16, 2019 WINDOW PROJECT GALLERY 9 E.tatishvili street Crosscurrents - Emerging Georgian creatives September 27 - October 20, 2019 4710 19 amaghleba street Keta Gavasheli and Andria Dolidze – Till you get your powers back September 29 – November 27, 2019 LC QUEISSER Tsinamdzgvrishvili st. 49 Hanna-Maria Hammari September 15 – October 23, 2019 ERTI GALLERY 19 P. Ingorokva str. Koka Ramishvili - Light Machines Curator: Karine Tissot October 25 - December 10, 2019 ERTI GALLERY 19 P. Ingorokva str. Andro semeiko - Blue Horns Poets Curator: Elene Abashidze August 29 – october 13, 2019 PROJECT ARTBEAT GALLERY 14 P. Ingorokva str. Nata Sophromadze & David Meskhi October 25 – December 8, 2019 PROJECT ARTBEAT GALLERY 14 P. Ingorokva str. Mamuka Japharidze solo show September 13 - October 14, 2019 GALLERY WAREHOUSE 35 Tabukashvili str. Sopho Kobidze Solo show Opening on October 25, 2019 UNTITLED GALLERY 17 I.Machabeli street Politics of Love October 25 – November 30, 2019 KUNSTHALLE TBILISI AT THE STATE SILK MUSEUM Opening reception, October 25, 19:00 6, Tsabadze st. REFLECTED POSITIONS ALICJA KWADE AND NINO KVRIVISHVILI October 19 – December 14, 2019 Opening : 19.10 18:00
GALLERY NECTAR Bochorishvili st. 89 Tbilisi 0160 (next to the presidental library)
Vakhtang Beridze October 12 - 13, 2019 FABRIKA 11 AM – 11:50 PM 8 Egnate Ninoshvili Street Fabrikaffiti 2019 - Urban Art Fest October 12, 2019 CREATIVE EDUCATION STUDIO 2 PM – 5 PM CES - 8 Egnate Ninoshvili Street, 0102 Tbilisi, Georgia Digital Sketching Workshop as part of Fabrikaffiti Fest PRESENTATIONS October 10, 2019 STATE SILK MUSEUM 6, Tsabadze street Book launch event of Tbilisi - It’s Complicated PERFORMANCES October 10 - 11, 2019 OPEN SPACE Beri Gabriel Salosi 1st turn Misanthrope More info: instagram.com/openspaceea October 17 - 19, 2019 MAUDI 140 A.Tsereteli Avenue Lodgers Publisher: Operators:
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