Elementary Particles: Epigraphs from Georgian Photography

16 September - 20 October, 2018

Project ArtBeat, 14, Pavle Ingoroyva str., Tbilisi, Georgia

Participating artists: Gigo Gabashvili, Shalva Alkhanaidze, Rezo Kezeli, Guram Tikanadze, Boris Shavardiani, Guram Tsibakhashvili, Natela Grigalashvili, Beso Uznadze, Nata Sophromadze, David Meskhi and Rita Khachaturiani.

In 2018 Tbilisi Photo Festival is eager to present a retrospective exhibition featuring a century of photographic images in Georgia. Elementary Particles: Epigraphs from Georgian Photography unites the works of Georgian photographers from the Soviet and Post-Soviet periods, including the series of photographs by Gigo Gabashvili, a famed Georgian painter whose photographic archives had been previously unknown. His daring, experimental work survived the strict controls of the Soviet regime of the 1920s and 30s and was witness to the free spirit of a “conventional” Georgian artist of those times.

Exhibition also combines artworks by the Soviet-period artists who like Gigo Gabashvili were creating photography which was free from Soviet ideology. In the exhibition Post-Soviet photography is represented by two generations of Georgian artists including artworks by Boris Shaverdiani, who is the founder of Georgian conceptual photography and one of the most influential authors working during the end of the Soviet regime.

Curated by: Nestan Nijaradze, Guram Tsibakhashvili, Natia Bukia.