Batumi Backyard Stories
11-25 August, 2013
Batumi, Georgia
The “Batumi Backyard Stories 2013” is a cultural initiative that brings together artists from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic and USA.
The idea for the project was sparked within a curatorial workshop for artists and museum professionals that Lydia Matthews /Professor of Visual Studies and Director of the Curatorial Design Research Lab, Parsons The New School of Design, New York City, USA/ offered in Batumi in March 2012, sponsored by the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
After the workshop a Batumi based art organization “Micro-poni” developed the project and invited artists from Batumi and Tbilisi to realize the pilot edition of the “Batumi Backyard Stories” in August of 2012. /https://www.facebook.com/BatumiBackyardStories?fref=ts, official site of the event is under constriction/
The “Batumi Backyard Stories 2013” is a second event of the project, within which the interdisciplinary artists’ team works with the families living in neighborhood, discovering their cultural legacies and creating a customized art installation and performance event in the old courtyards. The public art installations pay homage to what the neighborhoods’ families believe are their most precious cultural heritage stories or daily practices. The project was opened on August 11th with the work “Wandering Nighthouse” by Elaine Buckholtz and David Dzotse https://www.facebook.com/events/650148031671623/ that marked the starting point of the project. The workshop and working process will be held during 12-22 August. The audience will be invited to attend the celebratory closing events and backyard exhibitions on 23, 24 and 25 of August, 2013.
Creating socially-engaged public art projects like “Batumi Backyard Stories” links Batumi to many contemporary cultural activities happening worldwide: today’s artists not only make objects and images, but also conduct research, catalyze timely conversations and create memorable experiences for the local community. The artists and organizers of the “Batumi Backyard Stories” hope that the project can evolve into a long-run annual event in the city, exploring new neighborhoods each year and revealing the cultural richness of their many hidden stories, both past, present and future – real and imagined. Batumi is a treasure chest: through art, its local gems can be uncovered, celebrated, cherished and, hopefully, protected.
Participant artists and countries:
Mamuka Japharidze, Tbilisi, Geogria
Denis Gonobolin, Tbilisi, Georgia
Mariam Natroshvili, Tbilisi, Geogria
Detu Jincharadze, Tbilisi, Georgia
Giorgi Katamadze, Batumi, Geogria
Nina Masalkina, Batumi, Georgia
Amiko Kavtaradze, Batumi, Georgia
Gocha Jgenti, Batumi, Georgia
Samir Salakhov, Baku, Azerbaijan
Maria Sapronova, Moscow, Russia
Mkrtich Tonoyan, Yerevan, Armenia
Denizhan Ozer, Istanbul, Turkey
David Dzotse, Prague, Czech Republic
Elaine Buckholtz, Boston, USA
Management:
Levan Khujadze, Batumi, Georgia
Curators:
Magda Guruli, Tbilisi, Georgia
Lydia Matthews, New York, USA
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.206108572846808.1073741828.206105949513737&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.207349669389365.1073741830.206105949513737&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.206484656142533.1073741829.206105949513737&type=1
