AUSSTELLUNG: DYNASTIEN / Parallele Perspektiven - "Ich baue, was ich glaube" Dominikus Böhm - 27.06. bis 10.09.2018 in Tbilisi

For English please scroll down.

Eine Ausstellung des Goethe-Instituts Georgien in Zusammenarbeit mit dem National Museum Georgien [goethe.de]
Im Rahmen der Deutsch-Georgischen Kulturbegegnungen 2017/2018

Spektakuläre Bauten, wechselvolle Schicksale, Karrieren die ihresgleichen suchen: Die Ausstellung wirft einen Blick auf zwei unterschiedliche Baumeisterdynastien und will deren zeitgleiche Lebens- und Schaffensprozesse in ihren kulturellen Kontexten untersuchen.

Es handelt sich um eine historisch-kulturelle Untersuchung, die in Form einer Ausstellung realisiert ist. Verglichen wurden zwei Baumeisterdynastien, die beide vom 20. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart, in zwei politischen Systemen, tätig waren. Dabei bietet die Ausstellung traditionelle, familiäre, aber auch individuelle Anhaltspunkte: Einerseits für die Architekten aus der Kölner Baumeisterdynastie Böhm und andererseits für die Tifliser Baumeisterdynastie Kurdiani. Es werden sowohl die teilweise über mehrere Generationen andauernden Schaffensprozesse, wie auch Parallelen und Überschneidungen verdeutlicht. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf ca. 40 Gebäude.

Die Ausstellungschoreografie erzeugt Spannungsbögen zwischen den beiden Baumeisterdynastien und lässt vielschichtige Lesarten des Gezeigten zu. So mag der sich frei im Raum bewegende Besucher auf Entdeckungsreise gehen. Weltläufigkeit und die gezielte Abweichung von vorgegebenen Standards sind für ambitionierte Architekten meist bezeichnend. So will das Gesamtwerk beim Betrachter einen unverwechselbaren Eindruck hinterlassen, der dem Anspruch der Architektur, Baukunst zu sein, gerecht wird.

Architekten / Architektinnen
Dominikus Böhm, Gottfried Böhm, Elisabeth Böhm, Stefan Böhm, Peter Böhm, Paul Böhm, Grigol Kurdiani, Archil Kurdiani, Ketevan Sokolova-Porakishvili, Gia Kurdiani, Archil Kurdiani, Giorgi Kurdiani

BEGLEITPROGRAMM

Am 28.06.2018, 16:00 bis 18:00 Uhr
Historisches Museum Tbilissi (Karvasla), Sionistr. 8
Vortrag von Arne Schmitt (Künstler, Fotograf, Köln/Berlin)
"DIE NEUE UNGLEICHHEIT. EIN SPAZIERGANG DURCH DAS HISTORISCHE KÖLN VON MORGEN"
Podiumsdiskussion: mit Stephan Böhm, Peter Böhm und Paul Böhm, Köln
Moderation: Irina Kurtishvili
In deutscher Sprache mit georgischer Übersetzung

Von 29. Juni bis 10. September findet im Ausstellungsraum 3 das tägliche Filmprogramm statt:

12:00 – 12:45 / FILM 1
Stadion "Dinamo"
Regisseur: Shalva Shengeli
Georgien 2010, 42.48'
Originalfassung
Der Dokumentarfilm handelt von der Geschichte des Fußballstadions "Dinamo" in Tiflis seit 1936 bis 2010 und zeigt dessen Bauprozess, wie auch verschiedene Phasen der Rekonstruktion.

13:00 – 13:30 / FILM 2
Family Unity
Regisseur: Sopho Chakvetadze
Georgien 2009, 29'
Originalfassung
Der Dokumentarfilm handelt von der Geschichte der Familie Kurdiani, ihrer Gegenwart und Zukunft, sowie von ihren Vorfahren dargestellt anhand verschiedener Generationen.

16:00 – 17:30 / FILM 3
Die Böhms. Architektur einer Familie
Regisseur: Maurizius Staerkle Drux
Deutschland - Schweiz 2014, 87'
Originalfassung mit englischen Untertiteln



Der Dokumentarfilm "Die Böhms. Architektur einer Familie" dokumentiert die Arbeit, die Bauten und das Leben der Böhms. Er zeichnet ein intimes Porträt der Architektenfamilie. Für die Filmarbeiten lebte der junger Schweizer Regisseur (Absolvent der Film und Fernsehen Hochschule in München) länger als zwei Jahre mit der Familie Böhm in Köln zusammen. "Mit bewunderungswürdigem bildlichem Gespür setzt sich Maurizius Staerkle Drux mit den verschiedenen architektonischen Universen der Böhms auseinander und nähert sich darüber hinaus auch den feinen Unterschieden zwischen Selbst- und Fremdbild seiner Protagonisten. Der Titel des Films darf durchaus wörtlich genommen werden: Es geht vor allem um die Architektur einer Familie, erst danach um das Porträt einer prominenten Architektenfamilie." Ralph Eue, DOK Leipzig.


Architekturfotografen, Fotografen & Künstler Philipp Bösel, Markus Böhm, Hermann Claasen, Maurizius Staerkle Drux (Film), Harun Farocki, Arne Hofmann, Andreas M. Kaufmann, Dieter Leistner, Mario Lorenz, Giorgi Nebieridze, Sebastian Linnerz, Lukas Roth, Arne Schmitt, Christopher Schroeer-Heiermann, Ulrich Schwarz, Sandro Sulaberidze

Böhm Archiv
DAM Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt

Fotografien Hermann Claasen
LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn
Fotografische Sammlung

Fotografien Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki GbR, Berlin

Historische Fotos Tiflis
National Archives of Georgia / Sakinformi Fotorchiv



******************

The Goethe Institute, with the support of the Georgian National Museum, in connection with 200 years of relations between Germany and Georgia presents a project:

The Dynasties – Parallel Perspective
"I build what I believe in" Dominikus Böhm


The exhibition features almost century-long historic-cultural and, in particular, architectural legacy that has been created and developed in parallel in Germany and Georgia, representing two different architectural family dynasties - the Böhms and the Kurdianis - creating in Germany and Georgia respectively. The exhibition gives an overview of their creative history, emphasizing on parallelism in life.

Secular, public, sporting, residential, cultural, educational architectural objects - all these buildings are still functional both in Germany and Georgia and represent an integral element of their countries’ identity. The display represents all epochs through which both countries and each of the families lived and created in parallel, though individually. The Böhms’ architectural legacy has been repeatedly surveyed and acknowledged. The elderly member of the family, Gottfried Böhm is 98 years old today. He is the only German architect awarded the highest architectural prize – the Pritzker prize.

One may see exhibits and photos from the family archives associated with specific historic context. Documentaries will also be on display, featuring their creative life and key architectural projects created by the Bioms and the Kurdianis. The audience will have an opportunity to see compilation of photos by Harun Farocki (1944-2014) titled "Stalin’s Museum in Gori" that is exhibited in Georgia, Karvasla Hall for the second time. In his photos, Faruk underscores the importance of contexts created by ideologies and/or political regimes, or even contemporary forms of powers in the universe, under the disguise and veil of culture.

Architects:
Dominikus Böhm (1880-1955); Gottfried Böhm, Elizabeth Böhm (1921-2012), Stephan Böhm, Peter Böhm, Paul Böhm, Grigol Kurdiani (1873 – 1957); Archil Kurdiani (1903-1988), Ketevan Sokolova-Porakishvili (1905-1988), Gia Kurdiani (1932-2014), Archil Kurdiani, Giorgi Kurdiani

The Author and Curator of the Exhibition: Irina Kurtishvili, Cologne

Address:
National Museum of Georgia; Tbilisi History Museum (Karvasla);
#8, Sioni street, Tbilisi.


Opening: 19.00 hours, June 27, 2018
Exhibition lasts from June 28 till September 10, 2018

Links:
irinakurtishvili.com/dynasties
facebook.com/dynasties
museum.ge/dynasties
Die Böhms - Architektur einer Familie [dw.de]
Die Böhms – ein Jahr­hun­d­ert Ar­chi­tek­tur und Kunst [baumeister.de]
Die Böhms – Architektur einer Familie [zenit.org]

HISTORY: Exhibition featuring Nobel Prize winner opens today in Tbilisi (agenda.ge)

(agenda.ge) A vibrant exhibition of videos, paintings and more, detailing the life of a Nobel Prize winner when she lived in Georgia is opening today in Tbilisi.


The Tbilisi History Museum of Georgian National Museum will host an exhibition of Austrian artists and curators Johanna and Helmut Kandl that detailed the Nobel Prize winner Bertha von Suttnner’s activities in Georgia.

The exhibition, called Bertha von Suttner in Gordi, depicted the time when Austrian journalist and pacifist Bertha von Suttner stayed in Gordi, a palace of Georgian Nobles ‘Dadianis’ in western Georgia.

Bertha von Suttner became a common name in her home country Austria in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century for her effort as a peace activist and pacifist. Her novel Die Waffen nieder! (Lay Down Your Arms!) was published in 37 editions and translated into 12 languages.

On 10 December 1905 she received the Nobel Peace Prize and became the first female Nobel Prize winner. It is believed that she was a major influence in Nobel’s decision to include a peace prize among the prizes provided in his will.

Meanwhile the Austrian couple behind the exhibition, who are both Professors of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, brought together videos, various installations and paintings in their exhibition with the aim of highlighting contemporary economic and social issues using examples from history.

The Kandls discovered an unknown manuscript of a play in the Geneva UN archive, which Bertha von Suttner wrote from Gordi palace, which will also be shown in the exhibition.

The Dadiani palace in Gordi. 19th Century

"The phenomenon of Bertha von Suttner and her activities in Georgia are very diverse and important. This is why [this exhibition] gives a very interesting perspective of her artistic approach combined with modern art,” read a statement released by Tbilisi History Museum.

An explanation of the project stated the exhibition portrayed "an idea about contemporary art and important historic issues, expresses the relationship between Bertha von Suttner and Dadian ancestral house and tells the story of her organised events in Gordi”.

The Bertha von Suttner in Gordi exhibition will continue until October 16 in Tbilisi.

ART: Two Exhibitions Capture Life in the Caucasus. By Nevdon Jamgochian (hyperallergic.com)

(hyperallergic.com) TBILISI, Georgia — This week in Tbilisi, there are two exhibitions worth checking out. They make a nice pairing for an afternoon, as the first deals with public memory while the second is a very intimate examination of hidden experience. Both are singular in that they reflect life in the Caucasus region yet have universal relevance.

Varhram Aghasyan, “Museum of the Revolution,” in ‘RE: Museum’ at the National Gallery (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

RE: Museum, showing at the Georgian National Museum’s National Gallery, was initiated by the Goethe Institute of Tbilisi and developed by Wato Tsereteli, director of the Center of Contemporary Art – Tbilisi (CCAT). He commissioned two artists, Sabina Shikhlinskaya from Azerbaijan and Vahram Aghasyan from Armenia, to co-curate 14 other artists for an exhibition reimagining a national museum. Over several months, the 17 participants, working with the Georgian National Gallery and its extensive archive, were given one set of instructions: “You are the director of the museum, you have access to everything. Make a laboratory relating to the future.”

As in any show with 17 artists and laissez-faire direction, the results are mixed — but there are more successes than duds.

The real winners in RE: Museum are the artworks that take an interesting artifact or fact of history and place it in a new context. There is a real human desire to look at neat stuff and have interesting stories told to us, but the way most museums’ structures have evolved has made attendance a chore (or a place for children), rather than seizing imagination and spurring thought.

A particularly striking example of this is “Medea’s Garden” by Mamuka Japharidze, which features ancient jars of pickled poisonous snakes in lovely vitrines on a plinth, with a projection showing the Colchian forest shot through and behind them. The installation relates to the story in the Argonautica Orphica that recounts the poisonous and healing plants of the Colchian forest, and points out that the Georgian words for poison and medicine come from the same root.

Also interesting, but more academic, are the artworks that make the viewer aware of the box-inside-a-box aspect of museums. Aghasyan’s “Museum of the Revolution” consists of a two-walled wooden shelter that looks like a hut from the front and a barricade/reader’s corner from the back. The text on the front informs the viewer about a revolutionary museum in Yerevan that was erased from history and the early Soviet idea of reader’s huts.

Tsereteli told me that the primary purpose of the show was to decolonize the museum — to make us aware of the obligations that the space of a museum imposes on us — and to return it to its original function as a place of muses. His tongue-in-cheek work underscores this: Tseretli framed a photograph of a room being remodeled at his current work in progress, the CCAT. Putting a picture of his future exhibition space/school in the show was the only way he could get the Goethe Institute to provide funding to build it. It’s a neat trick that accomplishes the goals of the exhibition nicely.

A 25 minute walk over the river, through a rundown neighborhood full of bridal dress shops, brings you to Tbilisi’s only contemporary art gallery, Nectar. Unmarked and without a sign (this seems to be something that just happens in Tbilisi — it was the third establishment I’d been to that day without a shingle out front), the gallery is currently showing Supra of Her Own by Polish PhD anthropology candidate Agnieszka Dudrak and Georgian artist Tamar Chabashvili, sponsored by the Heinrich Böll Foundation (the Germans are doing an excellent job funding arts in this region) and the Mondriaan Fund. Supra is a Georgian word that means both tablecloth and feast. In Georgian culture, supras are special tablecloths that are held onto as family treasures, despite the stains and tears and mends they accumulate.

The entire space of Nectar has been taken over by old supras, which are strung up as walls to recreate the floor plan of a house. The viewer must navigate the supras to enter the successive “rooms.” On each supra are fragments — embroidered, written on, and sewn — of stories of domestic violence recorded by the artists in Georgia. These oral histories range from acts against children or newlywed women to sustained violence that’s lasted decades.
 

Agnieszka Dudrak and Tamar Chabashvili’s ‘Supra of Her Own’

Chabashvili has created different canvases for the words, some in a graphic, manic style of repeating words relating to cycles of abuse, others with cheerful-looking rose embroideries that contain an ominous phrase about the first acts of violence perpetrated immediately after a wedding. They are stunning. Also jolting is the fact that the women who told these stories donated the supras, which now have their stories embedded in them.

Capturing stories in this way is visually arresting and effective. The act of seeing the words and the stains made by perpetrators, victims, and accessories — and having to touch them in order to move through the show — made the experience more visceral than visual art and text alone could. The writing is in Georgian and Chabashvili translated for me, but I think the show could work without knowledge of what exactly was written, as abuse is a universal experience. I asked if the artists planned to take the exhibition elsewhere, but they said they were afraid of a Western reaction of seeing this as an exotic problem of the East rather than a general human failing.

RE: Museum continues at the Dmitry Shevardnadze National Gallery (11 Shota Rustaveli Ave, Tbilisi, Georgia) through the end of September. Supra of Her Own continues at Gallery Nectar (16 Agmashenebeli Ave, Tbilisi, Georgia), through July 31.

Photos are here >>>

SCANDAL: Georgia Opts for Gold Mining at Protected Historical Site. By Paul Rimple (eurasianet.org)

(eurasianet.org) It turns out the choice between gold and historical preservation is an easy one to make for officials in Georgia: the government is going for gold.

EurasiaNet.org has learned the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Heritage Protection has given Russian-owned mining company RMG Gold the green light to excavate gold from Sakdrisi-Kachagiani, a nine-hectare site in southeastern Georgia that many archeologists claim contains the remnants of one of the world's oldest gold mines. In 2004, archeologists from the National Museum of Georgia and the German Mining Museum unearthed caves and mining tools at the site that are believed to date to the third millennium, BC.

It is uncertain when the company will begin mining the site. Approximately half of its workforce has been on strike since January 24, seeking higher wages. Some critics hint the company is using the archeological controversy as cover for questionable labor practices.

Opponents are also upset with the government’s evident willingness to allow the destruction of what may be a unique site. Officials have additionally brushed off a call by civil-society activists for an independent study into Sakdrisi the site’s archeological significance.

During a March 17 trip by a EurasiaNet.org correspondent to the area, accompanied by government representatives, two manned security vehicles sat outside the entrance to Sakdrisi-Kachagiani. The company continues to block entrance to the site, even to Ministry of Environment officials.  It cites the potential for damage by outsiders and lingering issues about the site’s status as the cause.

Caves and mining tools discovered at the site during a 2004 excavation by the National Museum of Georgia and the German Mining Museum are believed to date to the third millennium, BC.

But in its March 14 decision, the Culture Ministry cited a supposed lack of proof that Sakdrisi had ever functioned as a gold mine as a reason for lifting the site's protected status as a a "cultural monument." For the past eight years, Sakdrisi had enjoyed protection, a designation that prevented mining at the site, located near the village of Kazreti, where a vast copper mine owned by RMG Gold's sibling, RMG Copper, is located.

In a March 13 discussion with university students, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili indicated that another factor played into the government’s decision to lift the site’s protected status. Noting the supposed lack of evidence for Sakdrisi's past, the prime minister stressed that RMG Gold has invested $300 million into the Georgian economy and employs 3,000 people. For a country with an official unemployment rate of 16 percent, an economic growth rate of under 2 percent such earnings and employment figures are not exactly trivial. In addition, the government experienced a drastic shortfall in tax revenues for 2013.

RMG Gold, an entity that evolved from Georgia’s former mega-mining company Madneuli, is believed to rank as one of the country's largest taxpayers. RMG Gold executives claim that to find fresh gold and maintain their operations, they need access to Sakdrisi-Kachagiani. With gold prices now at $43.67 per gram, it appears it wasn’t difficult for officials to buy into RMG Gold’s argument. In 2013, gold accounted for 2.9 percent ($35.52 million) of the country’s export earnings.

Gocha Aleksandria, vice-president of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation, is among RMG Gold’s critics who note that the company started complaining about the Sakdrisi ban’s adverse impact on earnings only after it was hit with a strike.  RMG Gold representatives have claimed that as long as they can’t mine the area, they cannot pay higher wages or keep on idle workers. On January 31, one week after the strike began, the company dismissed 184 workers allegedly for these reasons.

"We see it as retaliation for the strike,” Aleksandria said, speaking for the confederation's membership.

The government has appointed mediators to settle the strike, but Aleksandria says the process is moving slowly. Even with a full work force, Mikheil Kvaratskhelia, head of RMG Gold's Health, Safety and Environment Department, reckons it will be "a couple of years" before the Sakdrisi-Kachagiani site is blasted for mining.

Skirting Sakdrisi-Kachagiani, the last in a series of five ore pits, is not an option, the company says. Geologists claim that ore from the site, believed to be the richest in gold, must be blended with that from the four other pits to get a consistent grade of gold.  Preliminary exploration work has only just begun on the first pit, about two kilometers away.

Civil-society activists are bracing for a long fight. "The government has a responsibility to explain, to argue its position, not just ignore [opponents]," commented Kakha Bakhtadze, a representativer of the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), one of the signers of a petition to Prime Minister Gharibashvili to preserve Sakdrisi's protected status.

The disregard that officials have exhibited toward those Georgians who want to protect Sakdrisi, "means that tomorrow the government can decide to destroy another cultural monument and do what it wants," Bakhtadze alleged.

The message the Culture Ministry is sending is mixed. In a March 14 statement, it called the claims about Sakdrisi's archeological value a "myth," yet it also announced intentions to invite independent international experts to monitor RMG Gold's mining at the site in case of "some scientific" discovery.

For Irakli Matcharashvili, program coordinator at Green Alternative, another of the Georgian NGOs opposing the ministry's decision, the plan makes no sense. "If this is a myth, why do they need a commission of experts? It's just words."

RMG Gold spokesperson Ekatarina Jojua has no information about a potential monitoring. "It's beyond our scope," Jojua said. "It's not clear who or how this will be done. It's up to the ministry."

Bakhtadze, the CENN representative,believes the government is suffering from short-sightedness. "The mine might be around for five or ten years. That's all. They will have destroyed the environment and [our] cultural heritage."

Editor's note: Paul Rimple is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.

STUDIES: Dmanisi Summer School 27.08. until 07.09.2012 (museum.ge)

For application contact:

DmanisiSummerSchool@gmail.com

Apllication Form: museum.ge/application dmanisi school (eng.pdf)

Dmanisi Summer School Program

The Dmanisi Summer School combines theoretical and practical training. The lectures will be led by Georgian scientists – specialists in social sciences. The topics covered include: history, art and archaeology of Georgia, also ethnology and numismatics. More in details: Georgian medieval archaeological sites; ethnogenesis of Georgia based on anthropological materials; collections kept in the Georgian National Museum; history of Georgian monastic life; ethnic groups of Georgia; material and religious culture of the different ethnic groups living in Georgia; Georgian marital art etc.

Dmanisi Summer School
27.08-07.09-2012

The Georgian National Museum with the support of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation announces the opening of a new international project – “Dmanisi Summer School” from 27 August 2012 to 7 September 2012.

The focus of the school is the Georgian Studies - a field of humanities covering Georgian history, religion, linguistics and culture.
The Summer School is open to Georgian and international Bachelor, Master, PhD students or graduates interested in our heritage and in the disciplines related to Georgian history.

The school is located at the Dmanisi Archaeological Museum research base-camp in the village of Patara Dmanisi, 85 km south-west from Tbilisi, in the east Georgia.
Aims:
• Offering new theoretical and practical experience in the disciplines related to the history of Georgia.
• Acquiring better knowledge of the modern research methodologies in Georgian Studies.
• Improving cultural and academic relations between Georgian and foreign participants.
• Popularizing Georgian heritage and promoting Georgian Studies.
• Presenting various collections from the Georgian National Museum.
• Supporting the development of cultural tourism in Georgia.

Educational program is led by Georgian scientists specialized in social sciences and consists of theoretical and practical training. The topics covered are the following: art, history, and archaeology of Georgia, also ethnology and numismatics.

The program comprises of the workshops, discussions between the participants and the lecturers as well as screening of the documentaries.

Field trips to the Georgian historical sites and museums are included.

At the end of the program participants will be asked to prepare a small presentation.

Maximum number of students: 10

Language: English (and Georgian with translation into English)

Tuition fee: free

At the end of the course participants will receive certificates.

Application deadline is the 10th of August 2012.

Send your application form/inquiries to the following email:
dmanisisummerschool@gmail.com

More information: museum.ge

The program includes discussions between the participants and the lecturers; at the end of the course all the participants will be asked to make a small project-presentation on their own. Students will have a unique opportunity to work in team, exchange the knowledge and prepare presentation at the field.

Participants will get acquainted with the original and photo-illustrated material and cultural heritage kept in the Georgian National Museum.

The guided tour will be organized at the archaeological site of Dmanisi. The tour will cover: Dmanisi paleoanthropological site, Dmanisi Bronze age dwelling, Dmanisi medieval city and its structures: parts of the city, dwellings, workspaces, cultural and religious buildings, self-defense system of the city – fortress and the secret tunnel; the suburbs of the medieval city and the cemeteries of different religious groups: Christian-Orthodox (Georgian); Christian- Gregorian (Armenian), and Islamic. Practical experience can be acquired by the archaeological field-work dealing with the methodologies of the excavation, excavations itself, fixation of artifacts and immovable monuments, planning and mapping (both mechanical and with total mapping station), photo fixation; description of the stratigraphy and of the recovered artifacts.

The practical work also includes laboratory work: preparation, restoration and conservation of the archaeological findings.

Additionally, the workshops in experimental archaeology, ethnography - traditional design of clothing and ceramics, and Georgian marital art will be organized. The field trips in the historical places and museums in Georgia will be planned; it will be possible to visit local exhibitions.

The material resources of the summer school are provided by the archaeological museum research camp in Dmanisi and consist of field laboratory, lecture-room, living camp with kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms, also transportation.

Source: museum.ge/Program (eng.pdf)