yesterday at the #Tbilisi Art Fair -- ran into various friends, and saw some things I really liked.
Here the Hive, where various artists could showcase their work. 1/
here "Kobi", George Kobiashvili, with strong symbolism, and lots of detail, and a v expressive rendering of the figures. 2/
Maya Baratashvili, also fair young artist, born 1984, this already sold, "Being Liza", I found this evocative, the overall vibe. 3/
Sandro Antadze's paintings you see in a fair amount of places (I think also in Cafe Gallery), always a bit quirky, here an entire wall of them. 4/
the Tbilisi Public Art Fund, with some contested pieces recently (the Saarbrücken Square statue), but overall a v good idea, also here. 5/
Tedo Rekhviashvili had the most engaged gallery staff, who drew attention to detail in his paintings, and explained some of the symbolism that I otherwise would not have caught. He has an exhibition at Silk Factory at the moment also. 6/ instagram.com/tedo_rekhviash…
some non-Georgian artists -- here Guan Yu, who had striking drawings on his migration story, Istanbul, Georgia, Central America and then across Rio Grande to US, incl arrest and detention. 7/
nice to see some art from #Azerbaijan -- by Museib Amirov.
I do not know background of artist, but liked these pieces, did remind me of #Absheron (whether rightly or wrongly, idk). 8/
often my favorite, Gela Patiashvili or #GuelaPatiachvili w vibrant hues, playful and dogs all over, "La Haute Société" 2020, an explosion of color. #art #dogs 9/
last bit - drew a lot of attention, Giorgi Manjgaladze, intricate assembly of bamboo, big beautiful pattern w lots of substories, hieroglyphs, really a striking and large piece. (Indicating some success, priced at $26k, but also likely months of work.) You could spend hours.
Very glad I went. (Yep, politics also a conversation, but this was a great art event & well done, organizers!)
Now over, but worth putting this on your calendar for next year. tbilisiartfair.art
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fantastic tour of modernist #architecture in #Yerevan with Ruben Arevshatyan, two days ago, at end of "Soviet Legacies" conference. Will post a few things I learned about this great city that I did not know before in this thread, over next days.
What a guide!
#Armenia
so much to see in a fairly compact space -- and modernism as a defining characteristic in that city, with Alexander Tamanian being more to #Yerevan that Georges-Eugène Haussmann arguably was to Paris. 2/n
One surprise, but logical: apparently Tamanyan's idea for #Yerevan opera was highly contested by left / proletarian architects. Too 19th century, what function would it serve, they wanted something more stridently modern. Tamanyan prevailed, work started 1930, opened in 1933. 3/n
Armaz Akhvlediani and Ana Natvslishvili, opposition deputies, propose banning most fireworks -- to reduce injuries (40 hospitalized in January), many under-18, plus mass deaths of birds. 1/
I really hope this goes through -- and have a big centralized firework, rather than people feeling that their wedding is not complete if it doesn't also have big outdoor bangs. 2/ 1tv.ge/news/ana-nacvl…
international research is quite interesting -- and Vox summarizes it as "teenage boys are idiots" -- good case for keeping them safe, via more restrictions (found this via @FindPolicy ) vox.com/science-and-he… 3/
though the horse has bolted, of sorts, here my analysis of "the law". It is squarely bad faith.
You can sensibly call it the "we can repress anyone we like" law.
I can compare it with an analysis I did of such transparency laws in 2017 more globally, for @TAInitiative 1/
as I argued back then & citing @SaskiaBrech, not yet related to Georgia, there are clear tell-tale signs when a law has bad faith.
This law here has all of them. 2/
1/ excessive range.
This law will apply to ALL non-profit entities, save a handful of National (!) Sports Federations or blood donation societies.
The charity helping those with disabilities with non-Georgian donors? Likely a Foreign Agent.
today, EthnoFest in #Tbilisi (alas only realized it happening late afternoon), with plenty of great things you can get if you
-- enjoy #crafts
-- want to support local business, or
-- are thinking abt gifts already
Below some of my favourites. 1/n
This won the overall prize (congrats!!!) & was my favourite: fairly simple, evocative of #Tbilisi & #Batumi#architecture, nice #lighting addition somewhere in a flat, neat product. 2/n
final town-hall session still many in audience after very full @TbilisiZeg day.
Ukraine, the broader context, notes on caution & context & reflections.
"are we here today because there wasn't a Nuremburg trial for the Soviets?", asks @antelava w reference to comment by Giga Bokeria that there hasn't been enough of a reckoning with the crimes of communism. @TbilisiZeg
maybe not so much Nuremburg, but "West" could & should have paid much more attention to what happened earlier in Chechnya, etc., so some hope that this focuses minds on such crimes in the future, says @AnnaNeistat
"how do you approach your work of holding people accountable? Do you look for patterns?" @avalaina & @AnnaNeistat describe how they assemble evidence, but the question: for who? So many cases, worry that only a few will/can be prosecuted. #WarCrimes
"some of the work is v frustrating, I interviewed hundreds of people, who were tortured, raped, nails pulled, and you *know* at same time many others are suffering, so question is how to stop perpetrators now" #Ukraine@avalaina