Georgian artists set for contemporary display at former Soviet space institute

A decommissioned Soviet-era space research institute near Tbilisi is set to host works by a group of contemporary Georgian artists exploring questions of survival in a post-apocalyptic setting starting this Saturday.

Titled Illegal Kosmonavtika, the month-long exhibition will feature exhibits that take inspiration from social experiences of the collapse of the Soviet system to imagine a similar scenario for today's social, economic and political structures.

Illegal Kosmonavtika reflects on the Soviet past and the post-Soviet present and poses an important question: what kinds of survival "skills" should be cultivated to survive if the current systems also fail?", said the organisers' preview for the event.

Coming this summer to #Saguramo, Georgia (outside of #Tbilisi): #IllegalKosmonavtika, organized by Magda Guruli and Mariam Natroshvili! pic.twitter.com/9kUP5N5Lie

— apexart (@apexart) April 27, 2017

The display will be held at the Institute of Space Structures in Saguramo, 30km north of Tbilisi and present works by artists including Mariam Natroshvili and Detu Jincharadze as well as Ana and Tamar Chaduneli.

Organised by Natroshvili and curator Magda Guruli, the event's selection of the artist roster is aimed at presenting views influenced by experiences of different eras and realities in Georgia.

The exhibition features work from artists of several generations living and working in Georgia in order to show perspectives of artists who lived under the pressures of Socialist Realism as well as the younger generation that finds itself pinned between leftist ideas (both Stalinist and Western) and modern critiques of capitalism", read the summary of the event.

Beside the display of works, the exhibition event will also include workshops on subjects including "conceiving, developing and examining" efficient physical forms of protest, run by the Group Bouillon collective.

Illegal Kosmonavtika is a Franchise Exhibition Program display of apexart, a New York-based non-profit arts organisation offering opportunities to emerging artists and curators worldwide.

The program represents an open call for ideas on group exhibitions that can be held internationally, and involves a jury of 200 selecting winners from submissions. This year over 380 projects were submitted to the FEP program.

Further details about participants, venue and theme of Illegal Kosmonavtika can be found on the official website of apexart non-profit art organisation here.