Unintended Archeology

Tato-Akhalkatsishvili2
FROM KOLAJ 21

Collage from Tbilisi

In Kolaj #21, Etty Yaniv reports on four artists making collage in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. “The country’s complex history is evident in its contemporary art, and notably in collage-oriented artworks. As a young state with an ancient culture and far-reaching history, it is a place in transition and this state of flux is reflected in the work of four contemporary Georgian artists who express their unique sense of place and history through a wide range of collage-related sensibilities.”

This article appears in KOLAJ #21. To see the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Tamuna-Karumidze
Tamuna Karumidze is an actress, film editor and director, and photographer based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is a contributor to Vogue. For an overview of her work and links to her film projects, visit her Tumblr tamunakarumidze.tumblr.com.

Karumidze sees her wearable fabric assemblages as a vehicle to create new characters.

This article profile appears in KOLAJ #21. To see the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

collage-by-Levan-Mindiashvili
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Levan Mindiashvili studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts with additional studies in multidisciplinary projects at the National University of Art in Buenos Aires and in the use of media technologies in contemporary art at the Fundacion Telefonica in Buenos Aires. His work has won awards in Argentina and he received a FABLES Grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts in 2014. His visual and performance work has been presented widely in the Americas and Europe. Learn more at his website levanm.com.

He creates sculptures that look like found architectural remnants, pigments temporal material to look like permanent, or weaves tapestry to explore how steady sculptures can exist as soft hand woven fabrics.

This article appears in KOLAJ #21. To see the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

collage-by-Guram-Tsibakhasvili
Guram Tsibakhashvili graduated from the State University of Georgia in 1982. He returned to study photography from 1990-1994 and works as a photographer, photo editor, lecturer, actor and film director. He was among the founders of the Caucasian Centre for Cultural Development/Media Art Farm, the Tbilisi Photographer’s House and the first magazine in the Caucasus devoted to photography. Outside of Georgia, his work has been shown in Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States, among others.

While growing up during the Soviet era it was difficult to find quality art materials, so he got used to utilizing magazines for his artwork.

Tato-Akhalkatsishvili1
Tato Akhalkatsishvili lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. He attended the Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Georgia, Armenia, Austria, Germany, Japan, Macedonia, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Learn more at his website tato-art.com.

He started using the Internet as source material for images of people, deliberately detaching them from their historical or biographical contexts, collaging them as cut-outs into his landscape paintings. Placing the collaged figures in new environments created new life for them and new narratives, which result in imaginative and nuanced imagery peppered with enigmatic and open-ended metaphors.

This article appears in KOLAJ #21. To see the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.