CitizenReporter.org

 On my recommandation, Mark from CitizenReporter.org covered the satirical magazine Chiti.ge and interviewed the founder Saba Lekveishvili. Another link between Tbilissi and Amsterdam has been created!
Download the podcast of the interview…

Artificial_Me?

It is time to round up that phase of the work, I have been postponing it all the way, but now I have to face the issue. How can I conclude my research two months after the facts?…

Merry Xmas Bank of Georgia!

The famous building of the Roads Ministry  which had been bought and renovated by the Bank of Georgia (notice the little blue cube at the front of the building) is proudly decorating their  Xmas card (see the tiny snowman …

Remembering people

This is Ibtissam, my neighbour girl, playing with the doll I brought back to her from Tbilissi.
Now I’m back from Georgia since 3 weeks, and I am reviewing my memories, getting ready to write some new blog entries. The …

Kartlis Deda

Kartlis Deda, the Mother of Georgia, a 20 meters metallic national symbol on a hill is a soviet invention: it was commissioned in 1958.
Nobody needs a national symbol, except in times of occupation…

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Party People

From the paintings of Pirosmani to the films of Iosseliani, the Georgian are often pictured as party people. They make music and sing, they make wine and they love to drink it and to share it.
.Wine and …

Invented traditions

What are these breast pockets in the costume meant for? Bullets? I found different versions of the supposedly “national” costume, one as a stage costume for folkloric dansers and another as formal dress for military veterans. They come from a …

National Costume?

A knee length robe, in black or red, with a dagger at your belt and candles (?) in your breast pockets, is that a kid’s version of the national georgian costume? I met these kids on the way up to …

Wax figures

No, this is not a wax museum, the Madame Tussaud of Tbilissi. These people are made of flesh and bones. They look like this because they are playing their own role in a traditional religious ceremony. The bridegroom is wearing …

Artisterium

Artisterium is the big yearly art event in Tbilissi opened on 31 October but I just missed it, I flew back to Amsterdam on that day. No worry,  The Art Club Caucasus has an extensive photographic review about it …

The View

Enjoying the view from the window one last time before leaving…

Romantic graffitis

The local style of graffitis is somehow very romantic, sad love being the favourite subject. No wonder we get such good drawings, these are the walls of the art academy.…

Mouchette in Tbilissi

I met Mouchette, my own virtual character  carved in stone in a park of Tbilissi, where she serves as a war symbol. She is represented life size, not oversized and someone has added some romantic graffitis on her, tears and …

My baby is gone

My baby is gone and I’m broke.
What is there left to be sold in this country?
Oh, yeah… georgian blues… …

Oversized Symbol III

The new house of the president: a little gem of totalitarian architecture that popped out of the ground two years ago. Reminiscent of some the palaces built by the Turkmenbashi, the late president of Turkmenistan.…

Adding to your building

A careful look at recent buildings reveal that a lot of additions are being made: top floors are added to more top floors, balconies are closed with brick walls to create additional space. In the end, you can hardly distinguish …

Roads Ministry Building

Quite an astonishing building!
GeoAIR had an exhibition there last year “Frozen Moments, Architecture Speaks Back”.
Designed in the 1970s by George Chakhava, who was both the lead architect and the client for the project, the building pioneered the …

Silk fetishists

For silk fetishists or old museum lovers, the silk museum of Tbilissi is a unique place, a must-see! It is said to have been made after the silk museum of Lyon in France, but believe me, that’s where I grew …

In her grandmother’s kitchen

The paintings Tamuna did in her teenage time are hanging on the wall like beloved treasures and the cosy and popular atmosphere in this kitchen is a contemporary version of them. The food was great, the invitation unplanned, I got some …

Tamuna had a show

More than 15 years ago, Tamuna had a show at her art academy in Tbilissi. She was hardly 19 and these are all her teachers, posing proudly, with Tamuna’s mother, while she was only entitled a little corner of the …

Oversized symbol 2

So here comes a classic  oversized symbol: bare-breasted woman as homeland/war/freedom. But here is the surprise: under her heel the local tramp hides his bottles. What kind of a metaphore is that now?…

Virtual Priest

Making a Virtual_Priest seems a very cool idea! According to Saba, the Church seems to have got an enormous advisory power in the country. People tend to refer to the opinion of priests for all kind of private matters, such …

http://chiti.ge

http://chiti.ge is a satirical site on news and politics in Georgia. It’s all in Georgian, so let’s have an automatic translation of an article, about the last visit of Sarkozy on 6 oct. 2011 , for example. Of course the best …

Public Art

Dear Artist, today I saw another of your public art works and I must say I start understanding your style. You placed your work in an underground passage, a very-well chosen location, mysterious and very busy , run down and …

Gabriadze Puppet Theater

Puppeteers pretend to be invisible on stage, even when they go bareface. I admire, even envy their art. When I have found my Virtual_Artist, I will become invisible too. Rezo Gabriadze has an internationally very famous puppet theater in Tbilissi. …

Always Ultra

 Another oversized symbol. The nickname Always Ultra was given to this new pedestrian bridge across the river Mtkvari (you guessed it) because of its resemblance to a well-known sanitary pad. Tbilissians don’t like the bridge because of its bombastic modernity …

Looking for the museum

I am starting to see every construction site as a possible place for the future Contemporary Art Museum, and this is the way I can follow your traces, Unknown_Georgian_Artist. This was in Freedom Square (see the column at the …

The code in the flags

The french flag was shown the other way round and transformed into a dutch flag. I recognized myself immediately in this 90 degrees rotation, being a french citizen emigrated to Holland.…

Oversized symbols

I am enclined  to think that you were leading my way towards you, guiding my steps by means of oversized symbols: a grandpiano in the park, french flags, etc…They were like the icons of a message I had to …

Please Eat Grapes!

I became so obsessed with finding this Georgian artist that I started having hallucinations, and hearing voices. A voice said “Please Eat Grapes“, and I knew I had to learn georgian language. That was the only way to …