The necessity of providing basics for survival in everyday life, knowledge and experience in gallerie work gave birth to an international collaboration between German and Georgian founders of lc_queisser.
Their goal is to bring attention to the local art scene and support collaborations between local and international artists. A name that came from the middle name of one of the founder's mother, turned into a space that is located right at the heart of Tbilisi, having 5-6 shows a year, while working with 9 artists, offering residency, bookstore and an opportunity to share experience through lectures.
The story of the Open Space starts from 2016, where David Khorbaladze, Misha Charkviani and Ana Gurgenidze, together with actors who got together at Misha's and Dato’s workshop gave birth to an idea. Having a background in theatre and experiencing lack of space, made them decide to create one.
An open space that would welcome experimental art in it and support artists in different media to collaborate, experiment and grow. They had to walk a long way till finding space and getting it in shape to let Open Space be born, occupying the fourth floor of an old building, by turning the space into an extraordinary one. Their grand opening was very successful and led to few performances done in difficult conditions during the first cold winter. Then all the way through the pandemic, when they decided to create a residency and exhibit the works. The road to the way Open Space is, as it is today, was full of challenges and it is full of stories, but today it is a heart of experimental art and collaborations, having shows, performances and exhibitions that inspire.
Some projects:
SCDTN - South Caucasus Documental Theater Network is a four years long theatre studio, where independent artists from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia research documentary theatre and use the material to create discussion spaces about social problems in their countries. There are two documentary performances in a year at open space. Besides performances the project is educational and is based on sharing experience through workshops. The goal of the network is to support documentary theatre development and cultural dialogue between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It is financed by Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft.
EXODUSA - documentary performance where participants tell their true stories.
The project united around 100 people in 10 performances during one month. The project researches society and uses everyday life as a subject for the theatre. It gives space to usual people and keeps their stories as history. It is financed by Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft.
How to collaborate:
Participate in open calls and invite artists for collaboration. The space also open to projects and ideas that are experimental and involve multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.
contact: openspaceea@gmail.com
A community center and gallery located in Isani district, Tbilisi, Georgia. Operating on the intersection of art and human rights, we host exhibits, organize workshops, film screenings, and residency programs
While it feels like everything is happening only in the centre, it has already been 4 years since a place created by three friends exists in the suburbs of Tbilisi. It gives space to issues that don't even have normal names in Georgian yet. The name of the space Untitled Gallery serves as an invitation to think again about it. It united the south caucasus under one umbrella and gave space to themes that are hardly talked about in public. Themes like: social issues, queer issues, women rights are welcome inside their walls and by curating art shows and exhibitions, they plant the seed in society that will hopefully thrive. In collaboration with artists under risk they hold a residency that supports artists in need and danger. From time to time they have open calls for projects and collaborations.
How to collaborate:
Every project should be about social issues, especially queer and women's parts. For international artists it should be connected with the region
contacts: info@untitledtbilisi.com
Fotografia gallery is a space that has been inspired with the rich history of Georgian photography and holds a large collection of photographic works that documented Georgian history and life path. They are situated in the centre of Tbilisi keeping our past and creating space for Georgian photographers, especially female ones, who continue our rich history and create valuable art that is appreciated globally.
Conditions for collaborations be agreed with the Artist occasionally, so it’s different for each case.
Some projects:
The exhibition “Collaboration“. Guram Tsibakhashvili is one of Georgia's most important documentary and conceptual photographers. His extraordinary work spans several decades and has been published and exhibited widely. This exhibition, "Collaboration" is a cooperative venture between the author and the Fotografia gallery and in turn between the artist and his artist friends: Tinatin Kighuradze, Murman Makhatadze, and Rita Khachaturian.Together with each artist, Guram has created unique works that synthesize the creativity of all three. In addition to the creative collaboration works, the exhibition also includes documentary works of Guram alone, from the beginning of the 80s up to now.
The documentary photo exhibition of Giorgi Tsagareli. About the artist: born in Tbilisi in 1947, Giorgi Tsagareli took up documentary photography in the early 1980s and - as the decade grew in social unrest and ethnic conflict in the late years of the USSR and through its disintegration - used his lens to preserve moments from the tumultuous era.He covered events and people not only in Georgia but also in other zones of conflict in the South Caucasus, such as Nagorno-Karabakh. He also covered subjects ranging from people undergoing social reintegration to autism, and is praised as "one of Georgia’s most prized documentary photographers". His work has been shown in many personal and group exhibitions in Georgia and abroad, including exhibitions at Vienna's Fotogalerie Wien in 1999.By the late 1980's, segments of Georgian society had become frustrated with lackluster and oppressive Soviet leadership and began demanding more autonomy.
By April of 1989 these grievances led to protests in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. Religious figures featured prominently in the protests as symbols of cultural and national unity. Tsagareli famously documented this early period of unrest before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Georgia. Thus he is most well known as a war photographer who documented the conflicts that consumed the Caucasus after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His images capture the raw emotion and everyday challenges of war and desperation. Sadly, he passed away in 2020. Fotografia is proud to honor April 9th, and the man who recorded it for future memory, with this exhibition.
How to collaborate:
Conditions should be agreed with artists and photographers occasionally, contact to discuss your participation.
contacts: +995500504411
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