Russian artists encourage debate in Tbilisi exhibition

The Georgian public is being given a rare opportunity to acknowledge the culture and geography of its nearest neighbours in a special exhibition at the Georgian National Museum.

Works by leading artists from Kaliningrad – a small seaport city in the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea – have been collected to feature in the Made in Kaliningrad exhibition, currently on in capital Tbilisi.

The exhibition features works by modern artists of Kaliningrad, including Oleg Bliablias, Elena Tsvetaeva and Evgeny Umansky, to give the audience the opportunity to learn more about the places that share a common history with Georgia.

Through photographs, videos, sculptures and other installations, artists portrayed issues that are current in their homelands with the intention of sparking debate.

The combination of pieces collectively asked the audience ‘what is the difference between Soviet, Russian and national?’ and ‘to what extent does the freedom of society determine development of the country?’

The exhibition was earlier held in Georgia’s coastal Black Sea city Batumi and held at the Contemporary Art Space Batumi. The same exhibition was annually taken around the globe to several post-Soviet nations, including Lithuania in 2013.

The event was organised through cooperation of the Baltic branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, the Georgian National Museum and other local cultural institutions.

The Tbilisi exhibition opened on August 7 and will continue until August 15, 2015.