The FINANCIAL — International print festival Life-N-Style is targeted at promoting handmade print art among Georgians. Moreover, the project will link artists with potential buyers. Print art, which is booming all around the world, is missing the necessary infrastructure in Georgia. However, talented Georgian artists and public demand to acquire modern art makes organizers optimistic about the future of this direction of art.
Last week international print festival Life-N-Style successfully ran a workshop as the first part of the project. The workshop brought together over 30 prominent Georgian painters from different generations. Representatives of the ‘80s, ‘90s and millennials were among the participants, the majority of them prominent Georgian painters. Over fifteen copies of each work have already been published. During August 17- September 7 a festival is to be held in Batumi. Together with Georgian artists, representatives of the US, England, Germany and Turkey will also be among the participants. After Batumi, the artworks will be exhibited in Tbilisi, in modern art space ‘Fabrika’.
During the festival there will be public spaces in Batumi where posters of the works of art will be exhibited. The artwork will therefore “go” to society.
“The main purpose of the festival is to establish proper understanding of print in modern times. Unfortunately in Georgia we still consider print to be cheaply-made posters. Our project is aimed at the promotion of various types of print art, such as: lithography, silkscreen, engraving, etching, serigraphy and many others,” Nana Kirmelashvili, Chairwoman of the association Art Caucasus, told The FINANCIAL.
The festival is sponsored by the City Hall of Batumi and the Ministry of Culture of Adjara. The City Hall of Tbilisi recently expressed desire to support the festival. Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, TBC Bank and Nagomari Tea House are among the sponsors. The festival will take place in Batumi. In addition to arranging such events in a seaside city, Kirmelashvili sees the importance of bringing relief to Tbilisi and promoting other cities of Georgia, bringing economic benefits to those cities.
The FINANCIAL is a general media sponsor of Life-N-Style festival.
Georgia is lacking the infrastructure for the development of the print art direction. As Kirmelashvili said, they even failed to get paintings for handmade print work and had to import it. “In addition, the majority of workshops have been closed down. I barely managed to find the only workshop which had been equipped thanks to the finances of German specialists who were here several years ago. They gave the young generation an opportunity to study print art. So, the only space we found was Otar Karalashvili Studio, located on the territory of Modern Book House.”
Kirmelashvili has been working on this project for a couple of years. As she said, print art is one of the leading directions of the creative art industry on the global market. Accordingly, she sees a bright future for this art direction in Georgia too.
“An important factor is that I am witnessing very highly skilled professionals among Georgian youngsters that enter this direction. However, they do not see a future in their profession. Due to social conditions you can find a really good painter who will give up their profession and start working as a salesperson instead. In Georgia art does not provide the realization of opportunities for artists,” she said.
However, despite the existing obstacles Kirmelashvili is really optimistic about the future of print art in Georgia. “I want to create a fashion of print, textile and ceramic art. I want to implement the modern work of modern artists in our interiors. I am currently in negotiations and plan to sell already-created works. The products will be limited edition and the owners will be given the opportunity to be the exclusive owners. Finally, I want to create an art shop with café in order to constantly provide works for buyers.”
The ongoing construction boom in Georgian residential, hotel and office spaces later requires equipment with a modern interior. In this regard, Kirmelashvili said that their collection will respond to these demands. “I am sure that the demand will be quite high. My initiative is an absolute experiment but I am confident that it will justify my expectations.”
“My main role is to connect artists with potential buyers. We are currently in negotiations with two companies that plan to purchase the whole collection,” Kirmelashvili said.
Next year Kirmelashvili plans to participate in the New York annual Print Fair.
Kirmelashvili, who holds a diploma of foreign language specialist, has been involved in the art direction since the ‘80s. “In the ‘90s a friend of mine suggested opening an art gallery. For a while it was working successfully. Later the gallery closed down due to the overall environment in the country. Since the ‘80s I have gained lots of acquaintances in art. However, I continued involvement in this direction, was arranging various exhibitions. Later, I started organizing a huge festival called Art Caucasus. Representatives of over 30 countries participated in it. The festival was a good platform for the new generation. I have always been focused on encouraging and supporting the young generation during the beginning of their career path,” she said.
“The fact that the artworks of these artists are purchased for quite a solid sum, means that society accepts and likes their work and is ready to buy more of it,” Kirmelashvili told The FINANCIAL.
The list of prominent Georgian painters participating in the project includes: Kote Jincharadze; Zura Gikashvili; Tato Akhalkacishvili; Andria Dolidze; Koka Tskhvediani; Mamuka Tsetskhladze; Murman Makhatadze; Alex Berdysheff; Murtaz Shvelidze; Misha Gogrichiani; Rita Khachaturiani; Mari Ataneli; Guram Tsibakhashvili; Luka Tsetskhladze; Iliko Zautashvili; Oleg Timchenko; Kote Sulaberidze; Uta Bekaia; Levan Mindiashvili; Maya Sumbadze; Temo Javakhishvili; Nino Tchilashvili, Niko Tsetskladze and Amiran Kuprava.
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