Dogs, Mountains, Mythology: Mapping the Georgian Art Scene

In October 2024, the tranzit.cz team embarked on a curatorial research trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim was to map the local scene and establish connections with both local artists and independent institutions—galleries, educational platforms, and publishing houses. The trip was realized the week before Georgia’s parliamentary elections, and many performances, protests, screenings, and debates were dedicated to this topic as these elections were to decide the future direction of the country. We were sad to find out afterwards that the elections were most likely rigged, and the “winning” party is the pro-Russian populist party Georgian Dream. For many, the results of this election are incompatible with continuing to pursue an artistic practice in Georgia. This concern was also vocalized in a series of three performances entitled Forbidden Tales, organized by Patara Gallery. Three queer Georgian artists—IAMNIKITA, Meianira, and Matt Shally—expressed their protest against homophobia, censorship, and the oppression of the system in their performances.

One of the studio visits led the team to Kurorti, an independent artist-run space supporting women artists. There they met two resident artists, Nato Bagrationi and Mariam Gabritchidze, whose activities include organizing art workshops accessible free of charge to local communities and children. Mariam Gabritchidze is also involved in AITSONA DAITSONA, Georgia’s first emancipatory touring theater for children.

Another communal studio space which holds occasional exhibitions such as SIXROOMFLAT is occupied by several artists and designers, including Salome Dumbadze and Qeu Meparishvili. The team also met with Andro Eradzo, Mishiko Sulakauri, and Mari Aqubardia in their individual studio spaces.

Galleries and shows that the team visited include Kunsthalle Tbilisi’s Conspiracy Bar, a temporary safe space / exhibition created by the duo Around the Studio (Tika Shelia and Ano Jishkariani) in an old apartment, with screenings and performances in the weeks leading up to the election.

Elene Abashidze introduced her curatorial project E.A. Shared Space, which prioritizes exhibiting female and queer artists. She is also the editor of the independent, self-published billingual zine Danarti, which was first conceptualized and published in 2011 by Elene Abashidze, Ani Chorgolashvili and Natuta Bagrationi. The zine serves as a collective curatorial platform, which researches a topic per issue, having three main directions of Art, Architecture and Poetry from Modernist, Soviet and Contemporary times. The Why Not Gallery, where Matt Shally’s performance took place, is dedicated to supporting and promoting young Georgian artists and includes a space for experimentation as well as the project The Why Not Gift Shop, a collaboration with artists which produces and sells limited-edition items in order to sustain the existence of both the gallery and the practices of artists it represents. LC Queisser is a commercial gallery representing both local and international emerging artists, which also participates in art fairs worldwide.

Wato Tsereteli, director of CCA – Center of Contemporary Art, introduced tranzit to the informal educational program of the Tbilisi-based educational platform Invisible College, which helps cultural workers from various often non-artistic backgrounds learn the needed skills to start a project.

The trip also involved a visit to the bookstore Posta da Kona, a collaboration between Kona Books and Posta Press that offers amazing bilingual artist books, zines, poetry, artistic theory, and more.

The mobility was funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.