EXHIBITION: Supra of Her Own / საკუთარი სუფრა - 25th until July 22th 2014, at the Nectar Gallery in Tbilisi (gallerynectar.ge)

(gallerynectar.ge) We cordially invite you to ‘Supra of Her Own’ – an exhibition about gender-based violence against women in Georgia. From June 25th until July 22th 2014, at the Nectar Gallery in Tbilisi, we offer a reflection about the social invisibility of women’s painful experiences and propose new possibilities of making it public.

Supra of Her Own is a collaboration between an artist - Tamuna Chabashvili (Georgia/Netherlands), an anthropologist - Agnieszka Dudrak (Poland/Switzerland), a Georgian NGO (Anti-Violence Network of Georgia), and a grassroots initiative გესმით ქალების ხმა?. The exhibition will also host five days of performances by Mareike Wenzel (Germany), a lecture by Nadia Tsulukidze (Georgia/Netherlands), and sound installation by Eliza Proszczuk (Poland).

In patriarchal societies, many women’s experiences remain invisible, hidden, taboo, or even nameless. This exhibition will become a temporary, open space, resembling Virginia Woolf’s a Room of One’s Own, where diverse testimonies of abuse will become visible and open for interpretation and discussion.

Inspired by the traditional Georgian dinner – a supra - we will place on our metaphorical table that which is generally banned from the table – stories of women who experienced gender-based violence. Our project conceives of our supra as something more than a male-dominated and suppressive performance of social norms. For us, supra can be an improvised performance where deep, personal feelings can be expressed publicly in an atmosphere of hope, of laughter, of creativity and freedom. Using the supra with all its normative and subversive potential as a metaphorical platform will allow us to make the invisible visible, and raise awareness of the ways in which many of us conspire in the process of silencing of some women’s experiences.

The installation and videos are based on the quotations from interviews; mostly survivors of domestic abuse. In addition, women who experienced this type of violence, some members of the grassroots initiative “გესმით ქალების ხმა?” created memorabilia based on their personal experience. In this way we wish to give voice to those who are generally silenced.

In her performance the actress Mareike Wenzel will inhabit the installation of Tamuna Chabashvili for several days. She is going to explore the space by living there and creating a kind of shadow character and a moment of irritation for the observer. It is not about creating a big scenario but rather about images showing how women experiencing violence, are often made invisible in our society. It is more about the looking from the outside into space, about what is visible and what stays hidden. Mareike will start after the opening on Tuesday night and stay till Friday morning.

Project initiated by: Tamar Chabashvili, Agnieszka Dudrak
Supra installation by Tamar Chabashvili
Video by Agnieszka Dudrak
Sound installations by Agnieszka Dudrak, Eliza Proszczuk

Project is kindly supported by: Mondriaan Fund (The Netherlands), South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation (Georgia)

Opening ceremony: June 24th at 19h

Location: Nectar Gallery (Aghmashanabeli Avenue 16), Tbilisi, Georgia

Duration: June 25th - July 22th 2014