A Virtual Art Exhibition

Connecting The Now
Contemporary Georgian Art

June 06 – September 06
a collaboration with Georgina Organisation ART INCEPTION.

Georgia is on the edge of Europe, at the gate of Asia, and on the crossover of the North and the South Hemispheres. When it comes to Georgian contemporary art, its patterns can be considered as the litmus pointing to current socio-political affairs in the matrix of the country’s dichotomies. Most art historians agree that the legacy of Georgian contemporary art dates back to the 1970s when so-called “non-official apartment exhibitions” were organized by creatives who did something that was not adored by the aesthetic censorship of the Soviet Social Realism (Kipiani, 2019). Consequently, for many years, the doors of official cultural establishments were strictly locked for them. Today, we call these artists “non-conformists”. They usually worked as a collective, and although each had a distinctive style, they all moved with a desire to transcend Soviet conventions and get closer to Western art; moreover, while the Soviet regime had a forgiving attitude towards francophone art and Italian Neo-realism, non-conformist artists from 1970 demonstrated “[…] interest towards German, American and in general, so-called Anglo-Saxon culture and art. This interest meant rebellion of the worldview as the cultures, art and even the languages of strong enemies – Germany and the USA belonged to the prohibited fields” (ibid.). On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and two years after, the Soviet Union, which seemed to have gone on forever, suddenly was no more. The fall of the Union was followed by a series of wars: Russia re-occupied Abkhazia and parts of Samachablo. Additionally, downward turns in the country’s economy made it hard for Georgia to emancipate from Soviet pincers and accomplish the process of self-identification. While looking for the cultural origins (curtailed by the Soviet Empire) large masses of Georgian citizens turned to the Georgian Orthodox Church without realising that it would simply become a substitute for the monopoly of Soviet Atheism (Kekelia, Gavashelishvili, Ladaria, & Sulkhanishvili, 2013) and, again, act as Russia’s soft power. Religiosity became stronger: in the Soviet times those who engaged in religious services were considered outcasts; in post-Soviet times, those who criticise the Church, at times with artistic means, are considered as blasphemers. In the 1990s, the contemporary visual arts world acted as a space for alternative life and many things it produced were the weapons for alternative culture and politics (Japaridze, 2021). At the time, the West became interested in post-Soviet art: buyers came to Georgia and purchased artwork; bilateral international projects were implemented; several socialites started to operate private-owned galleries. These were the years of the first festivals as well. For example, the Avant-Guard Fashion Assembly (AMA) showcased the very first experiments of young Georgian designers who pursued individual liberty in their creations (About, n.d.). Along with AMA’s editions, Georgia paved its way towards the EU by abolishing the death penalty in 1997 and, two years later, by gaining full membership in the Council of Europe. From this period onwards, Georgia has declared itself as a politically European country again. This strive is well expressed by the quote of the late-Prime-Minister Zurab Zhvania in his speech during the EU Parliamentary Assembly in 1999, “I am Georgian, and therefore, I am European”. Not even half a decade later, 2003 saw the Rose Revolution. Georgia became committed to unapologetic institutional reforms. This trend had a multiplier effect on civic initiatives as well, amongst them in the field of culture and festivals such as Appendix, Kolga Tbilisi Photo, Artisterium were held, acting as the platforms for sustainable development of the contemporary visual arts industry. In 2005, Georgia enacted its first national pavilion at the Venice Biennial (Hammock, 2019). However, contemporary art still did not get sufficient legitimization from the Government at that time and no state institution had been authorized to safeguard and promote Georgian contemporary visual arts nationwide. Then, we have Change (Part II), an art piece in video form created by Koka Ramishvili, showing the peaceful transition of political power: the oligarch takes over the country in 2012. Number of artists still oppose the regime and the nationalistic and pseudo-patriotic sentiments which have come with it. In addition to pop-up galleries, their creativity extends to non-traditional exhibition venues such as city streets, brownfields or even, unorthodox churches. In 2014, the Visual Arts, Architecture and Design School (VA[A]DS) was established at the premises of Free University. From that period onwards, the students and alumni of VA[A]DS became an integral part of the Georgian contemporary art scene, further pointing to the weaknesses of the State subsidized Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, which has been accused of being conservative and not in par with international standards. There is still no attempt on behalf of the State to initiate any Contemporary Art Museum projects which would empower the development and publicity of contemporary art on the national level. At the same time, oligarchs, and nouveau riche fund different pseudo-authentic cultural hubs on the main avenue of the capital: Zurab Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art and the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, by manipulating titles, either harshly disgrace the urban landscape or mislead locals and tourists by fore-fronting pieces that can hardly be labelled as “contemporary”. In challenging times like these, Contemporary Art Archive – Tbilisi (www.archive.propaganda.network), which was established in 2017, provides e-visitors with multimedia content that documents artistic affairs of the last five decades in Georgia. In 2018, along with the existing large-scale and repetitive events, Oxygen started to expose both emerging and established artists, first on an annual basis, rivalling with Russian-backed Tbilisi Art Fair and then, by transforming into a biennial in 2021, hosting the U.S.A. as the Guest of Honour. On the eve of the third decade of this century, queer artists have come together to revive the tradition of manifesto-based artistic collectives – this is how Fungus is born (Shavgulidze, 2021). This collective unites creatives from different disciplines: fashion designers, art historians, performers, visual artists, etc. who aim to oppose patriarchal and chauvinist trends. However, not all artworks are destined to act as weapons for alternative politics: some artists prefer to distance from socio-political issues and there are some trapped (in-)voluntarily by the Russian underlying agenda of demonizing the West on pseudo-left-wing grounds. Finally, along with world-famous Demna Gvasalia, Thea Jorjadze and Andro Wekua, who consciously or unintentionally act as the ambassadors of Georgian culture, there are many other promising talents in Tbilisi and beyond committed to the development of the legacy of global contemporary art. When we speak about whether or not a country is successful in terms of its contemporary visual art scene, it has been integral to understand if artistic utterances disclose the genesis (otherwise there is a factor of levelled collectivism). I believe that what should matter instead, it is the artists’ ability to offer unique and individual worldviews. Alexander Belgarishvili’s installation - Tunic of Mine (2021), Group Boullion’s performance – Religious Aerobics (2010) or Porridge from a Kalashnikov (2015), Solomon Aphroditus’s video art - Martyr (2021), and Tamuna Melikishvili’s controversial Annunciation series (2010 - ) are just a few examples which, on the one hand, shake the local culture, and on the other hand, provide global audiences with unprecedented artistic research subjects and intriguing visual strategies. footnotes: [1] Main motto of Social Realism: “National in form and socialistic in content”. [2] Reference to the title of the book Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation by Alexei Yurchak (2005) [3] In 2014, Zurab Tsereteli openly supported Russian military intervention in Ukraine.