‘Wintering Over’ Photo Exhibition & Presentation of a Book by Guram Tsibakhashvili

On April 24, the Barnovi Artists’ House, a new exhibition space, hosted the opening of Guram Tsibakhashvili’s new photo exhibition and presentation of his book under the same name ‘Wintering Over.’ The event was supported by TBC Bank.

The bilingual book offers Georgian and English variations of histories of about 250 photos taken by Tsibakhashvili and essays written by Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili. ‘Wintering Over’ was published with the cooperation of TBC Bank and Publishing Company ‘Indigo,’ and was edited by Nino Lomadze.

The title ‘Wintering Over’, strange at first glance, is explained by the author in the preface:

“The fake country was collapsing.

Under Gorbachev, we already knew that it was inevitable.

Just like every other change, it was a painful and necessary change. Except that we were unaware of the pain that still laid ahead, so at first, we just rejoiced.

Once, Mamuka Tsetskhladze came to me. He had a way of sugar-coating pills. He suggest I hold an exhibition to see how many of us were around in autumn, and then how many would still be here in March, when winter would be over. And the exhibition was titled conveniently: Wintering Over.” - Guram Tsibakhashvili

Twenty-five years after this exhibition, Guram Tsibakhashvili is traveling through time to describe this momentous period in Georgian history, in which the newly established state is having a really rough time; struggling to cope with war, starvation, the cold; while contemporary art is blossoming in a country fresh out of the Soviet Union.

The book and photo exhibition try to capture Georgian history of 1987-1995 through visual and textual forms of art. It would not be an overstatement to say that the author succeeds at reviving the conceptual reality of this period. The characters and heroes from the book tell stories of the ’90s in action in a film recorded by the Film Asylum Studio, organized by TBC Bank. The film features popular artists working on different forms of art – film, fine arts, literature and music; artists like Lasha Bakradze, Gogi Gvakharia, Lado Burduli, Iliko Zautashvili, Oleg Timchenko, Manana Arabuli, Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, Teo Khatiashvili, Robi Kukhianidze and others. The film is a part of the exposition and each guest attending the exhibition will have an opportunity to see it.

Within the scope of the project, Indigo and TBC Bank have organized talks with a representative from different types of art, which will be held each week.

The Barnovi Artists’ House itself opens with this exhibition at 18 Rustaveli Avenue. The new space will be hosting Tsibakhashvili’s exhibition until May 31.