Gems of Adjara’s historical Islamic architecture to go on display at Batumi art venue
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The rich architectural heritage of Islamic mosques in Georgia’s Black Sea province of Adjara will be the subject of a photographic display involving local and foreign artists starting this Saturday.
In what is set to become the first exhibition of the year at the Contemporary Art Space Batumi venue, three artists will present their works within Wooden Mosques: Islamic Architectural Heritage in Adjara.
The project will highlight photographs by urbanist Suzanne Harris-Brandts alongside works by aspiring architect Angela Wheeler and urban photographer Vladimer Shioshvili.
A detail of a mosque in in village of Ghorjomi, in Adjara province's high-lying Khulo Municipality. Photo: Vladimer Shioshvili/Contemporary Art Space Batumi.
The group has documented endangered monuments and sites of Islamic architecture in the western Georgian province, with many of their works focusing on wooden mosques scattered throughout Adjara.
This unique architecture flourished in the decades between Ottoman rule and the rise of Soviet power. Today, these remote structures are architectural testaments to multi-confessionalism in the Caucasus”, said a preview from organisers.
Wooden Mosques will highlight these buildings, some of which serve as religious sites while others have been abandoned "due to secularization, depopulation, or the appeal of newly-constructed mosques”.
The exhibition preview said over 50 mosques built at various locations around Adjara between 1817 and 1926 were still present.
Showcasing their diversity in "location, design, and conservation status”, the project serves to illustrate their heritage.
Vladimer Shioshvili's photograph of a building in Ghorjomi. Photo: courtesy of author/Contemporary Art Space Batumi.
Work by Suzanne Harris-Brandts, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate in Urban Studies and Planning, focuses on politics of architecture and urbanism during periods of state building, political unrest and military occupation.
A graduate of the University of Waterloo, Harris-Brants’ work has revolved around symbolisms of power and national identity in the South Caucasus and Occupied West Bank.
Angela Wheeler is a PhD student in architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She has worked to explore heritage, national identity and architectural history in the former Soviet Union.
Her current work includes writing the DOM publishers’ Architectural Guides volume on Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Suzanne Harris-Brandts' photograph from Khulo Municipality's village of Chao. Photo: courtesy of author/Contemporary Art Space Batumi.
Photographer Vladimer Shioshvili has documented urban transformation in Tbilisi and street art in the capital city. Among other publications his work has been published in The Guardian and The Calvert Journal.
Contemporary Art Space Batumi was established in 2014 to offer "platform and new opportunities” for artists in the seaside city.
Beside displays, workshops and screenings, the platform also co-organises the Odessa/Batumi Photo Days annual international festival of photography.
The exhibition Wooden Mosques will be open at the venue from January 20-February 15.
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