Ana Chorgolashvili (Tbilisi):
Index: Soviet Architecture in Tbilisi
Künstleringespäch mit Videopräsentationen/artist talk with video screening
KV 25/04, 6 pm
After the collapse of the USSR, Soviet urban planning and development in Georgia halted, particularly in the capital, Tbilisi. At the 20th century’s end, in the period of transformations and political and economic crisis, the centralised system of civic government failed, resulting in many micro schemes. Inhabitants began constructing spaces individually; some architectural hybrids originated, becoming spontaneous segments of the city, giving the capital a new look. From the beginning of the 21st century, 'new' building priorities were announced in Tbilisi, resulting in a massive city wide building process. Parts of old buildings disappeared, while other parts re-colored accordingly, had lost their original look and original message. A non-systemic approach has become a new governance system. Ana Chorgolashvili will speak about her ongoing research project Index focusing on Soviet architectural heritage in Tbilisi and its post-Soviet development.
Fahrradtour mit der Kuratorin/Guided bike tour with curator:
29/04, 2 pm, Treffpunkt/meeting point: KV / Dauer/Duration: 2 h
Curator of the project Kristina Semenova who spent one month in Tbilisi at GeoAIR residency researching on the topic will introduce her curatorial concept as well as selected art works.
Sophia Lapiashvili (Tbilisi):
Lost Utopias in Tbilisi. Mosaics from the Soviet period
Präsentation/lecture
KV 29/04, 6 pm
Artist, curator and former coordinator of artist residency GeoAIR, Sophia Lapiashvili, presents a talk focused on the intensive changes within the public space that have been taking place throughout the last 20 years in Tbilisi, and have given rise to the interest of GeoAIR members in the monumental-decorative mosaics. Unsystematic transformation of urban environment, amateur interventions in forming the image of the city, and façade 'beautifications', have led to destruction of mosaics in Tbilisi’s public spaces. This became the reason behind documenting them, creating the database and online map. Lost Heroes of Tbilisi. Soviet Period Mosaics was a part of the SPACES project, funded by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme.
Sophia Tabatadze (Berlin/Tbilisi):
PIRIMZE: A Place transforming to a Non-Place
Vortrag/Lecture,
KV 29/04, 7 pm
Artist and founder of artist residency GeoAIR, Sophia Tabatadze presents a talk on her three years of research into social and visual changes affecting Pirimze, a six-floor edifice from the Soviet era, built especially to house repair and maintenance services. The theme unfolds to a broader picture and shows what has been happening in Georgia since the Soviet Union’s collapse. One may view Pirimze, a 40 minute experimental documentary film, in the exhibition space of the HGB. Beginning as a curious journey though the labyrinths of Pirimze and observing fascinating skills performed by craftsmen who once worked there, the story moves beyond the façade of the newly renovated business center Pirimze Plaza, which replaced Pirimze, and questions the need and motives for this transformation.
Finissage
KV 29/04, 7 pm