Tbilisi has an evolving food, club and fashion scene, making it a must-see destination of late, but the Georgian capital’s renaissance has now reached the realm of contemporary art.
As proof, this weekend it is to host its first contemporary art fair, Tbilisi Art Fair (TAF’18), with 35 galleries to meet in the Modernist convention center, Expo Georgia.
"A steep rise in foreign investment in the country of up to $2bn in 2017, and steady economic growth, has prompted a “new generation of art buyers,” says Eric Schlosser, the fair’s artistic director.
TAF’18’s gallery roster has a broad European scope, from Berlin’s Galerie Kornfeld, Paris’s Galerie Bernard Jordan, and Barcelona’s Galería Valid Foto BCN, even dealers from the Caucasus and Baltic region, including 11.12 Gallery and Totibadze Gallery from Moscow, Vilnius’s Rooster Gallery and Baku’s Yarat.
In the same week as TAF’18, a non-profit initiative led by the curators Irena Popiashvili and Lika Chkuaseli will also be launched. The Kunsthalle, which has no fixed location at present, with two solo shows on 18 May: Angelica Mesiti’s video installation in a winery on Melikishvili Street and Nika Kutateladze’s site-specific installation in a Soviet studio apartment on Pavlov Street.
TBILISI ART FAIR
EXPO GEORGIA (Tsereteli Avenue)
GALLERIES AND EXHIBITORS May 17-20
Pavilion 11
This section will host up to 30 exhibitors, established and young Galleries from Georgia, Caucasian region, Eastern and Western Europe. The list of exhibitors includes: Kornfeld (Germany), Project Art Beat (Georgia), NK (Belgium), ERTI (Georgia), 11.12 (Russia), Kultur Dialog (Armenia), Regina (Russia), Window Project (Georgia), Valid Foto (Spain), Totibadze (Russia), Rooster (Lithuania), Yarat (Azerbaijan), Dawid Radziszewski, Raster, Czulosc (Poland), Mojdeh (Iran), Baia (Georgia), Chardin (Georgia), Nivet-Carzon, Bernard Jordan (France), Vernissage (Georgia), TBC Gallery (Georgia), Stephan Stoyanov (Bulgaria), Nectar (Georgia), Art Rooms (Turkey) and more.
▪ THE HIVE May 17-20
Pavilion 5
The special format of the Hive will showcase up to 40 independently represented international artists and collectives, working exclusively in contemporary visual arts, selected by TAF through an open call. Some of the artists selected are Nino Chubinishvili, Levan Abramishvili, Jeff Bliumis (USA), Shirin Shahroudi (Iran), Mamuka
Tsetskhladze, Salome Dumbadze, Qeu Meparishvili, Sandro Sulaberidze, Dimitri Bogachuk (Ukraine), Christina Starzer (Austria), Csilla Szabo (Hungary), Delphine Wibaux (France), Vladimir Mishukov (Russia), Alex Kiessling
(Austria), Maka Batiashvili, Nino Zirakashvili, Masha Demianova (Russia), Kamilya Kuspanova (Kazakhstan), Christina Abdeeva (Russia), Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamazaki (Russia), Vakho Bugadze, Maia Baratashvili and more.
▪ TAF EXHIBITIONS
❖ Tbilisi Photo Festival - May 17-20, Pavilion 6
In and Out of Reality:
Three Centuries of Photographic Image in Georgia
❖ Twelve Women Gone Missing
State Silk Museum, May 18th, 18:00;
Writers' House of Georgia, May 19th, 20:00.
❖ War On Hold / Under Construction
Pavilion 9
▪ OFF THE WALL
Delphine Wibaux - Installation;
Bertrand Gadenne - Installation;
Kestutis Svirnelis - Installation;
▪ TAF Workshop
▪ TAF Forum
▪ TAF Talks
▪ TAF Performances
For more information, see here.