Guram Tsibakhashvili’s photographic retrospective of 90s Georgia to launch new Tbilisi exhibition space

A display of photographs illustrating a vital and tumultuous moment in Georgia’s history will become the opening event of the Barnovi House of Arts, a new exhibition space in downtown Tbilisi on Wednesday.

Photographer Guram Tsibakhashvili, referred to as “one of the most outstanding figures in Georgian contemporary artists” by propaganda.network, will bring a selection of his works reflecting the social and political events following the Georgian independence in the 1990s.

 

[The photographs illustrate] a newly born state struggling against war, starvation and cold [...] while contemporary art begins to unexpectedly flourish in the wake of the country’s freeing itself from the Soviet Union,” a preview for the show says.

Tsibakhashvili has titled the exhibition Winter is Left Behind, as a reflection of an idea of leaving behind the troubles of the era but still having to face questions including “what has changed 25 years later?” and “what is the legacy of the 1990s?”.

Film critic and journalist Giorgi Gvakharia and screenwriter Tamuna Melikishvili putting up posters outside the Cinema House in Tbilisi in 1990. Photo: Guram Tsibakhashvili.

While the photographs take up the space of the newly launched exposition venue, the photographer will also unveil an illustrated book bringing together around 250 of his works.

The photos selected for the publication are found on its pages along with essays by author Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, recipient of Saba and Iliauni literary prizes in Georgia and winner of the Goethe Institute Prize for her work in literature and translation.

Known for her works including novels Who Killed Chaika? and Berikaoba, Kordzaia-Samadashvili was also selected for the New York Public Library’s list of 365 Books by Women Authors in 2017.

On his part, Tsibakhashvili is known for his documentary photographs — exhibited in dozens of solo and group displays in Georgia and abroad, from the Writers' House of Georgia in Tbilisi to the Newman Popiashvili Gallery in New York.

Tsibakhashvili worked with author Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili on a book combining photographs with essays, set to be presented at the exhibition’s opening. Photos: Guram Tsibakhashvili/Georgian National Book Centre.

He also was co-founder of a number of pioneering photography institutions in the South Caucasus, including the Tbilisi Photographers’ Housing (2007) and the ‘Visual Bank’ (1985), and has led workshops at events including the Frankfurt Forum of Photography.

The Barnovi House of Arts is described as a space focused on developing contemporary art for “cultural convergence” in the region while “reinforcing historical narratives” and sparking “new creative impulses”.

Organisers of the venue aim to discover and present both local contemporary artists and creatives with contribution in historical legacies.

The display Winter is Left Behind will receive visitors between April 24-May 31 at 18, Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi.