Frankfurt Photo Forum to showcase Georgian photographers, pioneering artists

A display of Georgian independence through the lens of photographers and artists from the country will be part of the Frankfurt Forum of Photography starting this Saturday.

With a selection of 12 artists, the show Picture Languages. Photographic Art from Georgia will bring documentary works, portraits and more to the event in the German city.

On display are documentary images of Georgian independence, various forms of portraits and studies of traditions and symbolic places.”

A focal point of the show are works by young photographers, born in the late 1980s and early 1990s - they are constantly concerned with the identity of their generation and the experimental use of the medium of photography”, said a preview of the event.

Curated by Celina Lunsford, the works picked for the exhibition come from Andro Eradze, Natela Grigalashvili, Lado Lomitashvili, Dina Oganova, Koka Ramishvili, Mariam Sitchinava, Daro Sulakauri, Guram Tsibakhashvili and Beso Uznadze.

Beside showcasing today’s creatives, additional focus will be on pioneers of the photographic art from Georgia, highlighted through reproductions of Dimitri Ermakov, Alexandre Roinashvili and the country’s maiden war photographer Nino Jorjadze.

In the opening days of the event, some of the featured artists will be present to meet audiences for “gallery talks”, with Natela Grigalashvili, Dina Oganova and Lado Lomitashvili scheduled to take part on day one.

A subsequent lecture by Georgian National Museum photo historian Lika Mamatsashvili and Kolga Tbilisi Photo festival curator Tina Schelhorn will introduce visitors to the history of the Georgian photographic art of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Guram Tsibakhashvili, one of the photographers picked for the show, will also offer a workshop titled Photography Outside and Inside on day two.

Finally, Tbilisi Photo Festival curator and artistic director Nestan Nijaradze will be in Frankfurt to meet photography enthusiasts for her talk In and out of Reality. From the Soviet Period to New Wave on October 24.

Picture Languages is a contribution of the Frankfurt Forum of Photography to Georgia’s representation at next month’s Frankfurt Book Fair as the official Guest of Honour.

The photo display will host visitors through November 18.