Tbilisi Art Fair 2019: About the Fair

Tbilisi Art Fair
May 7, 2019 6:00PM

TBILISI ART FAIR - TAF - 17-19 MAY - PRESS RELEASE

Tbilisi Art Fair (TAF) will take place from 17 to 19 May in the modernist pavilions and gardens of Expogeorgia, as well as in museums, theatres and art spaces across Tbilisi. The Professional and VIP Preview is on 16 May from 2pm until 9pm.

After the success and critical acclaim of the first edition in 2018, TAF 2nd edition promises to be one of the most dynamic events on the international arts calendar!

This year TAF has three main sections:

Galleries and Editions - Participants in TAF 2019 edition include, from Georgia, LC Queissier, Erti, Project Art Beat, Ria Keburia, Window Project, Wanda Gallery, TBC, Baia Gallery, Chardin Gallery, and Kamel Mennour (France), Gisela Clement (Germany), Simone Subal (USA), Rooster (Lithuania), Q gallery (Azerbaijan), Art Agency (Bulgaria), Valid Photo BCN (Spain), Levy Delval (Belgium), L’Aleatoire (France), AB43 Contemporary (Switzerland), Eugster (Serbia), as well as The Screening Room (video art) in collaboration with Gallery Apart (Italy), Madragoa (Lisbon), 22,48m2 (France), Jerome Poggi (France). Galleria Continua (France, China, Cuba, Italy), Vin Vin (Austria), Levy Delval.

The Hive - Solo presentations of 36 artists (from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, France, USA...), selected by TAF with an international jury of professionals representing a variety of cultural and artistic perspectives such as Yasmina Reza (playwright, director, actress, novelist and screenwriter), Katie Melua (singer), Emmanuel Carrere (novelist, screenwriter, director), Charles Berling (actor, director, producer), Irina Kronrod (Sotheby’s London), Jeff Cowen (visual artist) and François Michaud (curator, Paris Museum of Modern Art).

Curated exhibitions - The following exhibitions are part of TAF Commissions and Collaborations

Hotel Europa: Their past, Your present Our future - curated by Théo-Mario Coppola, associate curator Livia Tarsia In Curia. A group exhibition and a performance programme across different venues in Tbilisi, gathering works by Georgian and international artists who include within their practice communities’ concerns, resistance strategies and marginalised thoughts as fundamental principles of their approach. Apparatus 22 - Aram Abbas - Babi Badalov - Yasmina Benabderrahmane - Bouillon Group - Chto Delat - Vajiko Chachkhiani - Levan Chelidze - Gaetano Cunsolo - Bady Dalloul - Aliénor Dauchez - Braco Dimitrijević - François Durif - Davit Giorgadze - Marco Godoy - Petrit Halilaj - Gregory Hari - Siri Hermansen - Karine Hoffman - Martin Hotter - Zhanna Kadyrova - Dmitri Kourliandski - Vincent Lemaire - David Liver - Lado Lomitashvili - Randa Maroufi - Sophio Medoidze - David Meskhi - Slava Mogutin - Uriel Orlow - Joseph Perez - Joanna Piotrowska - Louis Rollinde - Marinella Senatore - Mükerrem Tuncay.

Four Discourses - curated by Nino Sekhniashvili. Through the practices of 4 different artists each from a different generation and background using radically different medium, this exhibition illustrates subjective local imaginations, revealing the hidden face of non- mainstream art in Georgia. Shota Bostanashvili, Thea Gvetadze, Elene Chantladze, Elene Lukhutashvili.

In situ/In vivo - curated by Olga Pogasova. A group exhibition created for the Silk Museum that articulates its role in the preservation of culture and history (in this case the silk weaving tradition), and the multiplicity of meanings found in each cultural and historical object. Daria Krotova, Koka Ramishvili, Maggie Wu, Rusudan Khizanishvili, Olga Bojko, Dominic de Grande.

Jeff Cowen, 30 works - curated by Eric Schlosser. A solo show of the celebrated American artist. In collaboration with Michael Werner Kunsthandel and the Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi.

David Kakabadze. A retrospective. Curated by Nina Akhvlediani. This exhibition celebrates the 130th anniversary of the birth of one of the most influential Georgian artists. The body of work Kakabadze produced mainly lies on the margins of all modernist movements of the 20th century and preceded by several decades kinetic art of the 1950s. More than 70 paintings, drawings and assemblage make up a show that offers a unique perspective on the artist’s work, highlighting the extraordinary holdings of artworks and archive material gathered by the artist's family.

Clarisse Hahn - curated by François Michaud. A showcase of works from the french video artist and filmmaker. In collaboration with the Paris Museum of Modern Art. Hosted by Amirani Cinema.

To Be a Woman - curated by Sabina Shikhlinskaya. An exhibition of video works from Azerbaijani contemporary artists of different generations reflecting on gender issues. Sitara Ibrahimova, Nazrin Mammadova, Teymur Daimi, Chinara Mejidova, Leyli Salayeva, Sabina Shikhlinskaya, Agil Abdullayev,. In collaboration with the Baku United Artists Club, with the support of the Artist’s Union of Azerbaijan and United Cultures.

Palette of pain. Kharkiv School of Photography - curated by Roman Pyatkovka. A group show exploring the aesthetics of Kharkiv Photography from 1970 to 2019, whose representatives helped define contemporary art in Ukraine. Yevgeniy Pavlov, Igor Chekachkov, Sergey Lebedinsky, Sergey Melnitchenko, Roman Pyatkovka, Vladislav Krasnoschek. In collaboration with the Photo Kyiv Fair.

Medea: Icons vs Logos - curated by Konstantine Bolkvadze An exhibition of female Georgian artists exploring the theme of Medea in the context of cultural and historical relations between Georgia and Europe. Leila Shelia, Keti kapanadze, Maia Naveriani, Nino Ziraqishvili, Nutsa Esebua. In collaboration with Open Space Tbilisi.

And a daily programme of international performance artists across the city!

TAF will also present an exciting series of round tables and talks on topics such as politics and art, how identity and history affect an artist’s practice, education and criticism, how to start a purposeful art collection, art and design in contemporary interiors, and more.

Visitors will also enjoy an Art Week in galleries, museums, and art spaces. To name a few: a retrospective of David Kakabadze works celebrating the 130th anniversary of his birth; Tabula Rasa, an exhibition of sculptures by Gabriela von Habsburg along with 4 young artists from the Free University, curated by Irena Popiashvili (National Museum & Kunsthalle Tbilisi); Uta Bekaia’s 20 channel multimedia show SUPRA at Erti Gallery; young Georgian artists on 2 floors of the Stamba Hotel with their Oxygen show, and many more!

The Tbilisi Art Fair is both a fair and a not for profit international contemporary art platform, created to broaden awareness and increase opportunities for the emerging art scenes of the Caucasus, Central and Eastern Europe. The fair’s successful first edition reflected a growing interest in these art scenes, providing unique and exciting access to artists that are hard to find in art fairs, auction houses, museums and galleries elsewhere in the world.

Tbilisi Art Fair