Artists: Koka Ramishvili, Andro Dadiani, Tamara K.E., Gagosha-Giorgi Gagoshidze, Shotiko Aptsiauri, Vakhtang Kokiashvili, Uta Bekaia, Dato Koridze, Mariam Mzesu Giunashvili, Sandro Sulaberidze x Guram Tsibakhashvili, Gvantsa Jishkariani, Nika Machaidze
Exhibition title: Change – Part Two
Venue: Window Project, Tbilisi, Georgia
Date: June 19 – September 20, 2024
Photography: Sera Dzneladze / all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Window Project, Tbilisi
Window Project presents a group exhibition titled “Change—Part Two,” which showcases the work of artists from various generations in various media from 1989 to 2024. This exhibition reflects the significant changes in Georgia’s recent history, politics, and culture.
Since gaining independence in 1991, and despite or in response to wars, occupation, and attempts to seize power and public space by governments, Georgian contemporary art metaphorically, with sarcasm or romanticism, challenges and reflects essential themes such as the need to rethink the past and present critically, demythologize history, emphasize individual responsibility in shaping public space, respect human rights and freedoms, and address identity crisis and resilience in a politically unstable environment. Each work featured in the exhibition tells its own story and reflects the collective or individual perspective of different eras. Regardless of various artistic forms and time frames, visual analysis of collective states reflects the same processes: the struggle for political power in Georgia, the search for freedom, and the fight for independence, all perceived as a constant, inevitable process.
The exhibition derives its title, “Change—Part Two,” from Koka Ramishvili’s video installation of the same name, created using manipulated documentary footage of the peaceful transfer of power after the 2012 elections in Georgia. A few years earlier, Koka Ramishvili created the video “Change,” reflecting the culminating moment of the Rose Revolution. In addition, the exhibition presents items from the War Museum of Ergeneti, founded by Lia Chlachidze, in her house near the occupation line. This museum is dedicated to the war of August 2008 and the Russian occupation.
