EXTENSION.GE. IF YOU LIVED HERE, YOU WOULD BE HOME

 

TATO AKHALKATSISHVILI, UTA BEKAIA, TAMARA KVESITADZE, LUCA LAZAR, LEVAN MINDIASHVILI, DARO SULAKAURI, RUSUDAN KHIZANISHVILI, LEVAN CHELIDZE, NINO CHUBINISHVILI, GIORGI CHKHEIDZE

 

Triumph Gallery in partnership with Ria Keburia Foundation, ERTI Gallery and Window Project, Tbilisi, presents the 11th edition of the EXTENSION project—If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home. In line with now traditional approach to exploring different national art scenes, ten Georgian contemporary artists, who represent various media and subject matters, are brought together by their interest in heritage and cultural memory.

 

Georgia has always existed at the crossroads, from the Ottoman Empire to the Soviet regime, from the Rose Revolution to the era of the new oligarchs. Having overcome a deep trauma, Georgia is now a vital link in cultural exchanges. In spite of many years of migration, regime change and economic turmoil, Georgians have managed to preserve their national heritage, avoiding the fate of “the cultural melting pot” that has befallen neighboring lands. This cultural depth and richness can be seen in the work of Georgian contemporary artists, who continue to explore their deep ties with tradition and cultural memory, even if working in cities all over the world. Georgia, with its special cadence of life, seems to have avoided the identity crisis that many other nations face today. With a slower pace to life and a tendency towards meditative contemplation, the atmosphere of this country lets you focus on actual values, reflect upon the changing present and consider alternative ways forward.

 

Extension.ge: If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home displays an overview of Georgian contemporary art by presenting artists with diverse background. All exhibition artists belong to the generation which is part of the new dynamic scene that looks beyond the geography of their national borders. Without ignoring their cultural identity and possessing particular experience of contemporary reality, these artists make a claim to international presence and benefit from their openness and desire for exchange.

 

Exploring transitional fluid state of historically accepted social forms and paradigms, the exhibition revisits the notions of place, identity and history. It doesn’t propose answers or solutions, but it does offer opportunities to closely examine artistic practices, storytelling and new perspectives. The profound intergenerational impact of postcolonialism, economic exploitation and ideology requires nuanced insights and experiential responses, which inevitably shapes the reality and brings about new artistic practices. Participants of Extension.ge: If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home are renegotiating the definitions of place and home in order build renewed links between the notions of memory, geography, identity.

“IMAGE AND LIKENESS” – Exhibition at Moma Tbilisi

 

 

SUPERHUMANS

 

 

Opening Reception: February 8, 19:00

 
ERTI Gallery is delighted to announce a solo exhibition of new works by Uta Bekaia, Super Humans, marking the gallery’s first collaboration with the artist.
 
Uta Bekaia engages multiple artistic mediums, creating wearable sculptures, performances, and videos, where the borders between the disciplines are blurred, and the cultural references are synthesized in his own, personalized vision. With the background in fashion and costume making in the beginning of his career, Bekaia transformed these mediums into the main means, to approach human body and fully emerge into performances. Inspired by ancient mythology, fairy tales, Italian Baroque, and Georgian Dada, Bekaia with his exuberant, sculptural costumes, reinvents and re-stages long lost never-before-documented rituals. Believing in genetical transferability of communal memory, Bekaia attempts to re-connect with the ancient knowledge and impregnate it with his own experiences and new meaning.
 
“Super Humans” marks Bekaia’s growing interest in his native Georgian folklore and mythology. Entire gallery space and the window will be transformed into immersive, experiential multi-channel video installation, reviving nine characters from different fairy tales, that had the biggest influence on the artist in his childhood. Loyal to his creative process, this time also, Bekaia hardly relies on actual texts or research; instead, he dives into his own memories and subconscious, reviving remnants of those memories, enriched with his own childhood imaginations and interpretations. As a result, the viewer encounters with almost completely new, re-interpreted characters, containing references not only from the Georgian folklore but also experiences from the western pop-culture, another source of Bekaia’s inspiration. Each character is interpreted by the artist himself and carries very personal, almost symbolical meaning for him. This is Bekaia’s attempt to re-connect with his childhood dream to encounter with the Superman (Übermensch). Sound for the video is also created by the artist, reviving memories from ancient folk songs, Mengrelian spells (the region of Georgia where he’s from) and childhood summers in the country side.
 
Along with the videos Bekaia created nine hand embroideries of the Super Humans, where the playfulness of the children coloring books are merged with his widely explored and beloved craft.
 
The characters are the following:

Ochopintre – soul of the forest, half human -half animal, always accompanied by two golden deer, he played on the flute and to his music, the trees and flowers would blossom;

Gulambara and Sulambara – a blind King, that in order to get back the sight, had to apply the blood of the golden Fish on his eyes.

Devi – hairy giants, that would generally occupy the springs or another source of the water and would always ask something or someone in return.

Natsarquekia – a lazy person, who would spend days in staring at the center-fire and playing with the ashes.

Tsiqara – an orphan boy, with his loyal friend bull, who would carry him through the difficulties.

Faskunji – large creature with the wings, who would carry humans on long distances over their wings, but the character should feed it constantly, even to give them their own leg.

Gatsi and Game – double God, that would become one whole time to time.

Armazi – Pagan God of the war.

Dali – Goddess of the forest, with long golden hair.

Kinto Dreams

“Kinto Dreams” represents an artistic attempt to creative associative links between contemporary and traditional ritualistic culture. The project is based on a idea of perceiving ritual, as an altered state of consciousness, which can be reached through enhancement of rhythmic, continuous beat, homogeneous dance and psychedelic substances.

“Kinto dreams” investigates urban culture in different period of time and tries to connect old Tbilisi city Kinto dance, with blooming culture of electronic music in Georgia, both as a representation of ritualistic culture. Altogether with displayed paintings, created between 2001 -2005, as decorations for psychedelic events, the show creates comic and absurd, dreamlike expression of higher state of mind.

This show is dedicated to living memory of dear friend, Chaiung Siagian.

presented by ArtArea Tbilisi
Music – Natalie Tba Beridze
Video – Levan Maisuradze / Giorgi Akhvlediani
Installation – George Babalashvili Giorgi Baba
Curator – Taso Chkheidze
Special thanks to Levan Mindiashvili