Tuesday, April 08, 2014

ART: GeoAIR Bulletin #1, 2014 from Tbilisi/Georgia (geoair.blogspot.de)

GeoAIR
RESIDENCY: January-March 2014

January-February
Sezgin Boynik and Minna Henriksson (Finland) stayed for two months in Georgia. Activities implemented by them in the framework of GeoAIR residency included: Presentation by Minna Henriksson - Art and Power @ CCA-Tbilisi 14.01.2014; Public Lecture “Nationalism and Contemporary Art” - 23.01.2014 @ Ilia State University. SEE VIDEO; Presentation by Sezgin Boynik - "History and Forms of Situationist International" @ CCA-Tbilisi 29.01.2014

Additionally, presentation of works by Sezgin Boynik and Minna Henriksson created during their stay at GeoAIR residency took place at Nectar Gallery 26.02.2014. Minna Henriksson presented the newspaper Golden Dragon and Silver Star - New Georgia: Change of Symbols after the fall of the Soviet Union as a result of an art workshop around the topics of power, politics and symbols and in a collaboration with CCA-Tbilisi. Sezgin Boynik presented his publication ‘Still Stealing Steel: Historical Materialistic Study of Zaum’. Still Stealing Steel is ideological diary which attempts to theorize zaum as an indispensable political language, and experimenting on ways how to conceptualize the use-value of such expressions. >>>

The residency stay at GeoAIR was supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

March
Oleksandr Burlaka's (Ukraine) practice as an architect questions and studies the role, ideology and responsibility of architects today. Oleksandr has been contributing to Soviet Modernism 1955-1991: Unknown History published by Vienna Centre of Architecture, where he was responsible for research and collecting materials on that topic. During his residency together with GeoAIR, Oleksandr worked on the mapping of Soviet Modernist buildings in Tbilisi. As a result, online map with visual material will be published. >>>

Also, Oleksanrd Burlaka participated in public discussion organised by GeoAIR and Docomomo Georgia with the topic: "Laguna Vere" and forgotten architecture "Monuments" of Soviet Modernism."

Residency was part of program organized in the frame of the EU project SPACES. The SPACES project is financed by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme. 


RESIDENCY: April-June 2014 (upcoming)

April
Levente Polyák - KÉK (Hungary), Šárka Svobodová and Jaroslav Sedlak - 4AM (Czech Republic) in collaboration with  GeoAIR will work on a project VCEE (Vacant Central and Eastern Europe). For this we organize 10-Day workshops in Tbilisi. The Vacant Central and Eastern Europe project follows the project VAC (Vacant Central Europe) initiated in 2013 by KÉK -Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre. It aims to address the problem of vacancy by mapping empty properties, by researching planning instruments, architectural tools and by exchanging experiences and strategies of intervention that make the temporary use of empty properties and their conversion for another use possible. >>>

Residency and workshop are part of program organized in the frame of the EU project SPACES. The SPACES project is financed by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme.

Geraldine Paoli (Morocco, France) - artist, curator, founder and director of PALIMPSESTE.
During her residency, together with GeoAIR Geraldine Paoli will work on the conceptual framework and possible participants from Georgian side for an upcoming project for 2015 "Resonants Confluence".

Residency is supported by French Institute of Georgia.

May-June
Though the collaboration with AIRLAB at Tirana Institute for Contemporary Art (TICA), Albanian artist Donika Cina will have a residency stay at GeoAIR. She was invited specially to participate in the project "Discover Eliava Market". The project sets the goal to demarginalize micro space of the street market and draw attention of the society to the issue of reduction of negative impact on environment, as well as effective use of resources (among them energy resources) through cultural intervention, establishment of a dialogue between different social and professional groups of the society and support of the experience sharing. she will work on and develop the project together with Georgian artist.
The project "Discover Eliava Market" is implemented in the frame of EC funded (cultural program) project Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA).

TICA AIRLAB is supported by Prince Claus Fund, Network Partnership Program.


RESIDENCY EXCHANGES

AIRLAB at Tirana Institute for Contemporary Art (TICA) will host Georgian artist, Keto Logua within their yearly theme: Storytelling as artistic practice.
TICA AIRLAB is supported by Prince Claus Fund, Network Partnership Program.
GeoAIR collaborated with TICA AIRLAB in selection process of the artist from Georgia. In exchange, Albanian artist is participating in GeoAIR residency program.

K.A.I.R will host Georgian documentary film maker Ana Tsimintia for two month residency in Košice, Eastern Slovakia (June and July 2014). In the frame of European Capital of Culture the NGO Košice 2013 is running an international Artist-in-Residence-program for the artists from all over the world and out of all artistic disciplines and expressions. Open call and selection was organised as a collaboration between K.A.I.R and GeoAIR.



COLLABORATIVE CULTURAL PROJECTS

February, 2014 - GeoAIR started the project "Cooking Imaginations - Tbilisi Migrant Stories", which addresses the issue of migration, foodways and public space in Tbilisi, as well as the practice of interdisciplinary collaboration in contemporary art. Intensive fieldwork will be followed by public cooking events, international residencies and other activities addressing topics within the project >>> 
The project is supported by Prince Claus Fund.

February 14-16, 2014 In the framework of SUPERMARKET 2014 – Stockholm Independent Art Fair GeoAIR presented itself in collaboration with artist run Gallery Nectar.
Nini Palavandishvili from GeoAIR participated in panel discussion with a topic: Life Beyond Budgets – a panel discussion about alternative financial strategies. >>>

March 26-30, 2014 -
Sophia Lapiashvili from GeoAIR took part in the Partner Forum of Tandem /Shaml project in Tunis.  It is a program for cultural exchange between Europe and the Arab-Mediterranean region, started in partnership with MitOst (Germany), Al Mawred Al Thaqafy – Culture Resource (Cairo) and Anadolu Kültür (Istanbul). Tandem Shaml offers eight cultural organisations based in Germany and other European countries (incl. Turkey and Georgia) a unique opportunity to establish long-term cooperation links with partner organisations from the Arab countries across the Mediterranean.

The programme is supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stichting DOEN and Mimeta.


ARCHIDROME – CONTEMPORARY ART ARCHIVE AND DISCUSSIONS

24.03.2014 @ Club Frontline Georgia GeoAIR and Docomomo Georgia organised public discussion: "Laguna Vere" and forgotten architecture "Monuments" of Soviet Modernism"

During recent period we have been systematically witnessing functional and aesthetical impoverishment of city of Tbilisi. Hence, losing uniquely preserved city’s recreational spots and significant architectural buildings/constructions dating from the Soviet era. One of the symbols of Soviet Georgian modernist architecture, the Swimming complex "Laguna Vere" might be facing the same threat by becoming a victim of the tendency. >>>

Discussion was realised in the frame of the EU project SPACES.
This project is funded by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme.

Sincerely yours, GeoAIR team.
Inline image 1


www.geoair.blogspot.com

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