Calling all artists: Submit your idea for festival Fest I Nova

Creative thinkers, art enthusiasts and interested persons are invited to submit their artistic projects for this year's contemporary art festival Fest I Nova.

The popular annual art festival is gearing up to take place in Georgia in May, and continuing until October.

Abandoned cinema theatres, Soviet-era store buildings, schools and other areas in Garikula village and Akhalkalaki town will host works and installations exhibited for the five month festival.

Organisers of this year's event, dubbed Fest I Nova: Future Memory, are urging all interested creators to submit their entries as individuals and groups.

An installation from the 2015 Fest I Nova contemporary art festival. Photo from Art Villa Garikula/Facebook.

The call was open to people with a whole range of interests; from painters, writers and sociologists to musicians and philosophers.

Curated by artists Mariam Natroshvili and Detu Jintcharadze, the 2015 Fest I Nova will revolve around the theme of memory, focusing on social spaces in Garikula and Akhalkalaki.

Organisers said local and international artists would "bring back to life the old gathering places" at the two town, and "try to convert them into some kind of art scene".

By observing Akhalkalaki, we may clearly see the social, cultural and economic problems of a post-Soviet country with Western course. Narrating and analysing the past with language of art enables and provides us with an unexpected possibility to recover the memory, become aware of the past and prognosticate the future," read a preview of this year's event.

An installation from the 2015 Fest I Nova contemporary art festival. Photo from Art Villa Garikula/Facebook.

Artists can choose individual spaces to present their objects however works and installations that encouraged social engagement will be prioritised in the more popular venues, said organisers.

Artists have until April 21 to submit their projects. Selected artists will then be expected to work on their projects for the duration of the festival.

Organisers also revealed selected participants would be provided with meals and accommodation at Art Villa Garikula, a 19th Century Georgian Chateau used by artists, and a central location of the annual festival.

Last year’s 15th annual Fest I Nova festival hosted artists from Georgia, the United States, Europe and western Asia.

The 2016 Fest I Nova: Future Memory will run from May to October 2016. Details about the concept and submission process can be found here.