David Kakabadze Exhibition Launched at TBC Gallery
The TBC Gallery, a project of TBC Bank aimed at the promotion of Georgian culture and its presentation to wider audiences, along with the David Kakabadze Foundation, is offering yet another incredible exhibition to the public.
On May 8, an exposition dedicated to the 130th anniversary since the birth of one of the most outstanding figures of Georgia’s contemporary art history, artist, scientist, inventor and one among the founding fathers of Georgian modernism, David Kakabadze, was launched at the TBC Gallery. The exhibition is the starting point of a large-scale, multi-stage project carried out by the Bank and the David Kakabadze Foundation.
Visitors have a chance to discover various unique materials from the artist’s family archives, including sketches, notes, documents and drafts, among a number of mesmerizing works by Kakabadze, embellishing the walls of the Gallery.
David Kakabadze was distinguished for his interest in arts as well as the sciences. He was interested in medieval Georgian art, ethnography, the Renaissance, Chinese and Japanese art, cubism, futurism, and other movements. His outlook combined tradition and new information into a single context. His art represents both Oriental and Western values, which makes his work especially significant in light of the Georgian identity. However, aside from painting, he was very enthusiastic about research and discoveries. The name of Kakabadze is connected with numerous artistic and scientific initiatives launched in Georgia and France. He worked on electro-technical experiments, creating a stereo-cinematic apparatus and refining the means of expression in cinema. Electronic illumination and rays of light held a primary place in these experiments. Kakabadze was the first to speak about the synthesis of art and production; in this context, he created abstract pieces, collages and Stalin’s three-dimensional (3D) light art.
All of this was very much in the minds of the organizers of the current project. Thus, the exhibition at TBC Gallery is not a traditional display of works of an artist, having been launched in a way that it brings together art and science and presents a balanced and interesting integration of two absolutely different realms in one area. Its diversity represents Kakabadze as researcher, scientist and a figure with a clear national identity. The digital structure of the exhibition hall gives new life to the original works of the artist and introduces a great opportunity for art enthusiasts to see the heritage left by the prominent Georgian artist in new forms.
The exposition features numerous collections of the artist, preserved in different foundations countrywide. Four of his works, protected at the National Museum of Georgia, have been brought to the public eye with the help of TBC Insurance (Tbcinsurance.ge), which has insured the paintings in accordance with the highest international standards.
The exhibition carries significant messages and, based on a study of Kakabadze’s archives, aims to methodologically cover history and activate new narratives.
The project, devoted to Kakabadze’s jubilee, boasts a cycle of cultural events, as well as an educational program, to take place throughout the year.
From May 18, the TBC Art Gallery will host a multimedia project within the scope of which young artists Nikoloz Kapanadze, Mariam Akulashvili and Dimitri Shubitidze, inspired by Kakabadze’s works, will create audiovisual, spatial installations for exploration of light interaction.
A catalogue is also being launched as part of the project on May 18, which presents Kakabadze as a researcher and integrates the investigations of research groups, as well as new visions.
On May 17-20 the scientific works of David Kakabadze will be exposed at Expo Georgia within the Tbilisi Art Fair (TAF).
Project 12 – the TBC art platform, is yet another part of the anniversary series. In the exhibition hall located on Rustaveli Avenue, the works and studies launched during the projects will be on display for three months.
Within the framework of the project, the David Kakabadze Foundation is to launch an archive, integrating already existing documents with the new materials created during the anniversary of the artist. The Foundation aspires to digitalize all the artefacts related to the name of Kakabadze and thus facilitate public access to his works.
By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya
Photo: Rioni Power Station (1931). Source: kweiseye.wordpress.com