Lara protects me A Georgian Story

Tbilisi, they say, is the new Berlin. Late-night partying and scope to do one’s own thing are luring ever more people to Georgia’s capital. Located at the intersection of key trade routes for centuries, Tbilisi has always brought different peoples together – whether involuntarily, through occupation or conquest, or willingly and generously by offering refuge to those driven from elsewhere.

The populations seldom merged; instead, the separate groups learned to create permeable boundaries, leading to an eclectic mix of cultures existing side by side.
In the exhibition Lara protects me, video works, photographs, drawings and design objects told the stories of various convergences. An enigmatic message the show’s curator Mahret Kupka found on her journey through Georgia became the point of departure for a quest. Who was the mysterious Lara who wrote the message? What could contemporary creative artists tell us about her? Georgian artists, designers, curators and writers responded and invited us to explore their country.

Curator: Dr Mahret Kupka

With
Ana Chaduneli and Tamar Chaduneli, Danarti, Giorgi Geladze, Salome Jokhadze, Tamuna Karumidze, Irakli Kiziria and Zuka Babunashvili, David Meskhi, Dina Oganova, Patara Gallery, Situationist

An event within the framework of Georgia Made by Characters – the guest of honour at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair

In collaboration with the Creative Georgia and Georgian National Book Center, on occasion of Georgia’s appearance as the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018, with the generous support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia.