Tbilisi Photo Festival set for acclaimed creatives, war anniversary, focus on Lithuania
Mahesh Shantaram is one of 10 creatives selected for The Night of Photography via an open call by festival organisers. Photo: Mahesh Shantaram.
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A wide-ranged programme of photo screenings, displays and a focus on guest country Lithuania will bring the 9th edition of Tbilisi Photo Festival to locals and visitors of the capital city starting next month.
Regarded as a major regional event for photography, the event will host visitors with a focus on the photographers who documented the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, to mark the 10th anniversary of the war.
“The festival will open with a multimedia installation featuring works of over 10 great photographers and artists that have covered the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 and ongoing Russian occupation”, said a preview for the show.
With over 200 works with notable conflict photographers including Yuri Kozyrev of the NOOR photo agency and Thomas Dworzak from Magnum Photos, the project will also highlight a video produced by French artist Christian Barani along the administrative boundary line separating the occupied territories from Georgia proper.
In the major section of the annual photographic celebration, The Night of Photography will bring enthusiasts of the art form to the Betlemi District of Tbilisi’s Old Town.
In the narrow streets of the district, eight large screens will showcase photos in an event that has become customary of the festival.
“The program of the 9th edition of Night of Photography will feature the works of around 300 photographers from all over the world”, said its preview.
Works by photographers from a selection of the Athens TransEuropean Photography Portfolio and the Landskrona Photo Festival from Sweden will be up for viewing under the night sky, along with young Bangladeshi creatives presented by the Chobi Mela festival.
The Night of Photography will also feature 10 international artists selected via open call submissions, with their works screened on September 15.
The festival’s lens will also turn to Lithuania, a focus country for its 9th edition, with the show titled Phenomena of Lithuanian Photography 1918-2018.
Within this focus, an installation will present 100 Lithuanian Photo Books, donated to the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum by the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association, the Kaunas Gallery, the Culture Menu platform and AROKBOOKS.
Beside these headlining events, this year’s festival will also feature shows including Elementary Particles: Epigraphs from Georgian Photography.
Works by notable creatives, from pioneering Guram Tikanadze to acclaimed contemporary photographer Natela Grigalashvili, will be exhibited at Project ArtBeat Gallery as curated by Nestan Nizharadze, Guram Tsibakhashvili and Natia Bukia.
Elementary Particles will also feature Gigo Gabashvili, Shalva Alkhanaidze, Guram Tsibakhashvili, Rezo Kezeli, Boris Shaverdiani, Beso Uznadze, Nata Sopromadze and Rita Khachaturian.
Two other shows will round off the programme for the photo fest, with Broken Sea highlighting works by Nata Sopromadze and Irina Sadchikova, and Salty Taste of the Black Sea bringing together photographers from major agencies and celebrated artists.
The latter event will be an open-air screening with music by Ben Wheeler, all hosted at the Stamba Hotel Amphitheatre in Tbilisi.
This year’s Tbilisi Photo Festival will run between September 13-20.