Georgian, foreign photographers in Tbilisi spotlight

A central Tbilisi museum is gearing up to host some of the most celebrated foreign and Georgian photographers in two parallel displays of photographic art.

The first exhibition is called With/Against the Flow and will feature some of the best known works by German-based artists Viktoria Binschtok and Michael Schaefer.

The occasion will begin tomorrow and be hosted at the Ioseb Grishashvili Tbilisi History Museum (also known as Karvasla) in Old Tbilisi. 

The exhibition was organised by the Georgian National Museum (GNM), Goethe Institute Georgia and Institute of Foreign Affairs of Germany (IFA).

A work by Viktoria Binschtok within the artist's 2015 series 'Marriage is a Lie. Fried Chicken'. Photo from the Georgian National Museum's press office.

The display aimed to explore function and representation in photography, a recurrent theme in works by Binschtok and Schaefer.

Regardless of what motivates the artists or what interests them in terms of content, in the work they do they intervene in the very substance of the image or in external reality itself. The question remains as to whether this work should still be labelled "documentary” or whether it is, in fact, a form of realism that spills over into fiction," said a preview of the event from Binschtok's website.

The GNM said the two artists continued the legacy of 1970s photographers by exploring the subject of media in art.

An untitled 2015 work by photographer Michael Schaefer. Photo from the Georgian National Museum's press office.

Born in 1972 in Moscow, Russia, Binschtok grew up in West Germany and is currently based in Berlin.

Schaefer, born in 1964 in Sigmaringen, Germany, studied Photography Design at Dortmund University and Applied Sciences and Photography at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts.

The Tbilisi exhibition will officially open tomorrow. The opening will be attended by head of the IFA's Visual Arts Department Elke aus dem Moore, IFA Berlin Office representative Alexander Lisewski as well as exhibition curators and involved artists.

Meanwhile in a parallel display, the Goethe Institute Georgia will host another exhibition also at Karvasla Museum.

A show titled Reaction by Georgian photographers Guram Tsibakhashvili, Tina Kighuradze, Rita Khachaturian and Vakho Khetaguri will also launch tomorrow.

Both exhibitions will continue until January 14, 2017.