Georgia to Host 4th Int’l Print Festival ‘LIFE N STYLE’
International Print Festival LIFE N STYLE kicks off for the 4th time in Georgia. The festival plays a vital role in establishing printmaking as a significant art form in Georgia. Silk screen printing, also known as Serigraphy, is the act of creating unique copies or prints of art, and is widespread throughout the world. The festival, presenting an incredible collection of screen prints by notable artists, aims to promote screen printing in the country as well as help to exhibit contemporary pieces of art in modern venues. This year, the theme and concept of the festival is BLACK IS WHITE & WHITE IS BLACK. Author of the festival is Nana Kirmelashvili and the curator is Vakho Megrelishvili, a professor at the Academy of Arts.
Screen printing first appeared in a recognizable form in China then later was adapted by Japan and gradually spread around the globe. But over the years, the fields of Serigraphy, Lithography, and Lynchrome came to be fully replaced by digital printing and new technologies, meaning the Lithography workshops shut down in the capital and regions and the profession of printer was forgotten. Concerned with this issue, The International Print Festival LIFE N STYLE was established aiming to bring back the abandoned traditions of printing.
Seeing a number of artists working in different mediums getting involved, the festival gave birth to the only studio for Silk Screen Printing/Serigraphy in Georgia. Within the frames of the festival, this year around 60 local and foreign artists from different countries have created artworks through the silkscreen printing technique. The International Print Festival 2019 opens with the latest collection at the studio located on the second floor of the Wine Factory at Vasil Petriashvili Street 1, Tbilisi, on July 31. Then the festival will set off to seaside city Batumi and eventually end with a concluding event in Tbilisi in October.
Screen printing enables one to create several copies of an art image (around 10-15), keeping costs down and meaning art lovers can afford to purchase their favorite artist’s unique artwork. Each copy is signed by the author.
“Our mission was to restore this old technology of printing. Although in the Academy of Arts Easel Graphics is still taught, interest toward this field has been low,” Nana Kirmelashvili told GEORGIA TODAY. “After the 1980s, almost no-one was working in this direction in Georgia. So, five years ago, I started exploring ways to bring it back to life. The art of printing requires a special technique and careful work, since millimeters matter. Luckily, I found people with the ability to transfer artworks onto various surfaces and as a result of our substantial effort we managed to restore the tradition. All the artists I suggested take part were more than happy to create print versions of their artworks. After creating an incredible collection, it needed to be exposed to the wider public, so this is how the festival was established. Some people perceive serigraphy as an ordinary print, whereas handmade printing is an absolutely different and individual form of art. Through this method, now anyone can create their own collection of artworks by distinguished artists. It is something of a novelty in Georgia, whereas in the rest of the world, this technology is already one of the leaders in the business of art and creativity. Special art fairs and biennales are organized where prints of different sizes are put on display and sold. As part of the festival, we select artists who transfer their artworks through print. Some of the artworks stay with us and the rest with the author, so that they can sell them at the exhibition. The festival also enables young artists to collaborate and work with famous artists. Over the years we have taken artists, photographers, video makers, sound makers, and designers to mountainous Georgia (Tusheti and Svaneti) where they communicate with folklorists and work on a particular topic. Inspired by mythology, tales and folklore, they eventually come up with individual projects and artworks. This year we are planning to organize the same project in mountainous Adjara.”
As the author and organizer of the festival told us, a special prize has been established for the Students of the Academy of Arts to promote young artists and enhance their interest in this field.
“We have teamed up with Techno Park for a joint project. We are planning to send an artwork named the Bird of Luck by a transcendental artist to the stratosphere via air balloon. After a while, the balloon will burst, and the painting will descend to the ground to spread positive energy and happiness. In this way, we also want to emphasize once again that art has no limits,” Kirmelashvili said, adding that in this way the festival will be symbolically opened in Batumi.
GEORGIA TODAY also talked to the artists and participants of the festival to get deeper insight.
“This festival is important since it promotes the important field of graphic arts,” artist Tina Tskhadadze said. “At the end of the festival, a concluding exhibition is organized, where one can purchase a print. This is already my second time participating in this festival. Even though I’m a fine arts artist, I really enjoyed trying out this technology. Last year, for the first time, I tried the Eau-forte method (gravure) and this year I took part in the Serigraphy workshop. I also for the first time printed my work on silk. I made series of my sketch of Iris Iberica through Serigraphy technology, “she added.
“The pioneer who introduced this technology to Georgia was our friend Ladi Togonidze in the 1980s. He was printing labels and various types of commercial materials, and he offered artists work with him and use this technology,” artist Mamuka Tsetskhladze noted. “Nana established a prize dedicated to Ladi, who passed away at a young age. Nana is doing a great job. She is revitalizing an old tradition that that has roots in China. Personally, I have been working and using this technology for 19 years. At this festival I am presenting my artwork of Istanbul that I made with silkscreen printing technology.”
Gia Gogatishvili, photographer, told us, “I am taking part in the festival as a photographer for the first time, yet through its existence I have always been involved and helping Nana. At the festival I’m presenting a photo from the series ‘Reflections.’ I want to print it and exhibit it at an art museum in Arles, where a well-known photo festival is held.”
“Serigraphy is a very interesting process of making art,” Mari Ataneli photo artist, says. “It is really an amazing feeling when once a year all the artists gather in our studio to work on this technology and present their artworks in an unusual way. The exiting thing about silk printing is that you never know what result you get, it is like giving birth to a child!”
By Lika Chigladze