Kolga Tbilisi Photo to bring prized photographers, unique projects to viewers

A host of local and foreign photographers will bring some of their best and latest works to Georgia’s capital for Kolga Tbilisi Photo, a major photographic contest and exhibition week set to open next month.

From photographs of Soviet-era bus stops across Georgia to intimate portraits of people’s candid expressions, the week-long event will showcase a diverse selection of works over nine days.

A competition to reveal winners in six nominations will run in parallel with the displays, while workshops, public lectures and portfolio reviews will complete the agenda of activities for this year’s photo week.

Architect Nanuka Zaalishvili will introduce visitors of the week to her works on Soviet-era bus stops in Georgia. Photo: Kolga Tbilisi Photo.

Praised by organisers as "exceptional for the number of powerful photography projects”, the Kolga exhibitions will launch on May 3 before evolving through themed displays and photographer showcases.

In the former, architect Nanuka Zaalishvili will present her images of bus stops erected across Georgia during the Soviet decades.

Known for their creative, often unusual design, these constructions have become a point of interest for photographers and travellers in many former Soviet republics.

These small architectural volumes, which are kind of "road shelters", are represented with their interesting forms and shapes in all regions of Georgia.”

[S]ome of the [bus stops] are preserved so that they only need a little restoration, and some of them will disappear soon and forever”, said the author of the project in her preview.

David Verberckt's photograph from his series on Rohingya People. Photo: Kolga Tbilisi Photo.

The Georgian theme will also be continued in scenes of the country’s mountainous province of Svaneti, taken in 1889 by Italian traveller Vittorio Sella.

[Sella made his] first non-European expeditions [...] in Svaneti and Racha, Georgia. He visited these regions twice, in 1889-90 and in 1896. During these expeditions he climbed and photographed more than thirty peaks in Caucasus”, a summary for the show said.

In other displays, internationally renowned late French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson’s scenes of Paris, images of conflicts and their effects by Jan Grarup and Meinrad Schade and portrayals of social division between United States citizens by George Georgiou will all be part of the program.

A similar theme of people’s expressions and candid portraits will be the focus of separate displays by Levan Kherkheulidze and Max Cardelli, while Daro Sulakauri will present her project following social and political transition in Georgia since the 1990s.

A work by Vanessa Winship from her project 'She Dances on Jackson'. Photo: Kolga Tbilisi Photo.

Premiering at the photo week, works by Laerke Posselt and Mads Greve will link scenes of solitude in winter solstice above the Arctic Circle with images of human existence and relations.

Photographs exploring the artistic developments inspired by political protests in Europe in 1968 will be brought to visitors of the Tbilisi event by Bill Owens, with more displays included in the program.

Judges for this year’s Kolga Tbilisi Photo will also select winners for categories Documentary Series, Reportage, Conceptual Photo Project, One Shot, Mobile One Shot and Mobile Photo Series.

Established in 2002 as a competition for amateur photographers, the Kolga Tbilisi Photo contest has grown over the last decade to become a major photo competition in Georgia.