11 Oct 2012

1st Tbilisi Triennial

1st TBILISI TRIENNIAL: OFFSIDE EFFECT

October 19 – November 20, 2012

Curators: Henk Slager, Wato Tsereteli

In the world of visual art, many events have come to the fore with a strong focus on the academy's status in both the cultural and theoretical arena. Strikingly, these events all seemed to continuously draw attention to strict processes such as the introduction of the Bologna Accord or meticulous attempts to describe research and artistic knowledge production. Those often strict forms of quantifying and defining necessitate at their turn anew the investigation of what the academy is about. This time in multiple and fluid modes, where art academies can emerge as temporary, autonomous sanctuaries for artistic thinking; in fact the utmost and decisive factor in art education.

In order to achieve this goal, CCA-Tbilisi has initiated an idiosyncratic dissemination platform: a Triennial not only implying visual art, but also including a focus on art education and its related forms of research. The first edition of this Triennial, entitled Offside Effect, will take place from October 19 until November 20, 2012.

The notion of Offside Effect can be understood in various metaphoric modes. For example, in the mode of artistic thinking breaking through formalized frameworks of knowledge production. Or in the mode of agonistic, heterogeneous forms of laboratory-based education remedying homogenizing approaches. The ultimate ambition of this Tbilisi Triennial (Offside Effect) is to map a variety of practices in the form of activities, economics, methodologies, and strategies all connected with the experimental field of artistic thinking.

Various curatorial tools will be deployed in Offside Effect. Firstly, four keynote artists are invited, i.e. artists who have demonstrated in their renowned practices to be able to articulate a critical stance with respect to art academies and art education in order to develop a work contributing to the debate intended by the Triennial. The four invited keynote artists are:

- Hito Steyerl (in collaboration with a.o. Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Studio Miessen, Alwin Franke, Leon Kahane and Vincent Grunwald. Location: State Academy of the Arts)
- Stephan Dillemuth (in collaboration with Max Schmidtlein, Maximiliane Baumgartner, Mirja Reuter, Lisa Schairer. Florian Gass and Andi Zappe. Location: Georgian National Museum)
- Anton Vidokle (in collaboration with a.o. Keti Chukrov and Ekaterina Degot. Location: Europe House)
- Marion von Osten (in collaboration with Bessa Kartlelishvili. Locations: CCA Tbilisi and Literature Museum).

Secondly, a similar albeit a more institutional, context-bound question was submitted to artists from various international and leading experimental platforms, i.e. they were asked to demonstrate and disseminate their specific view on visual art, art education, and research in the form of a presentation. Their projects will be shown in various locations in Tbilisi:

CCA-Tbilisi: 10 Dodo Abashidze St. 0102 Tbilisi
- Crypt Project (in collaboration with Nikolaus Hirsch, Mark von Schlegell, Timothy Furey, Erik Lavesson, Nik Geene, Jonas Leihener – Staedelschule, Frankfurt);
- Mildred's Lane New York (a collaboration between Mark Dion and J. Morgan Puett);
- F+F School of Art and Media Design Zurich (contributions by USE, a collaborative group work with RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co), René Fahrni, Chantal Romani, Miro Schawalder, Studio Action, Judith Weidmann).

Georgian National Museum: 1 Lado Gudiashvili st. 0108 Tbilisi
- Tiong Ang (in collaboration with Natalia Calderon, Despoina Demertzi, Ryan de Haan, Zeynep Kayan, Pedro Kok, Alejandro Ramirez, Marina Stavrou, Wang Shihui – MaHKU, Utrecht);
- Rene Francisco (in collaboration with Ruth Castro – ISA Habana).

Literature Museum: 8 Giorgi Chanturia st. 0108 Tbilisi
- Inci Eviner (in collaboration with Şafak Çatalbaş, Didem Erk, Orkun Aksoy – Kadir Has University, Istanbul);
- Annette Krauss (in collaboration with Hyun Ju Chung, Laura Pardo, Marina Stavrou, Maiko Tanaka, Sofia Montenegro, Jan-Maria Colpani, Katrine Smets, Simone van de Hulst, Anja Groten, Miya Yoshida and Christian Nyampeta – MaHKU, Utrecht);
- Kim Jisun and Seung Hee Lee (selected by Young June Lee – Kaywon College Seoul);
- Informal Master Program CCA-Tbilisi (Galaqtion Eristavi, Aleksis Soselia, Tamar Muskhevilishvili, Mariam Natrosvhili, David Jincharadze, Ana Beridze, Mika Motskhobili);
- Berhanu Ashagrie Deribew (in collaboration with Mulugeta Gebrikidan, Michael Tsegaye, Mihret Kebede, Helen Zeru, selected by Lucrezia Cippitelli – Addis Contemporary);
- Sami van Ingen (in collaboration with Jan Kaila ­– Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki).

Europe House: 1 Freedom Square, 0105, Tbilisi
- Visual Culture Research Center Kiev (Olga Bryukhovetska, Oleksiy Radynsky, Lesia Kulchinska and Sehiy Klymko);
- AICA Yerevan (coordinated by Nazareth Karoyan);
- Ruderal Academy 008 Project (Sarah Cowles in collaboration with students from Tbilisi State Academy of the Arts);
- Rainer Ganahl in collaboration with Tina Bepperling.

Vladimir Kurtishvili Memorial House: 2 Mardjanishvili, 0102 Tbilisi
- Maumaus OFF SITE Tbilisi (with Jürgen Bock, Manuela Ribeiro Sanches, Gertrud Sandqvist, Henning Lundkvist and Marcel Stötzler).

Shindisi Field Academy: 8 Tabori st. 0123 Tbilisi
- Farming project (with Soren Dahlgaard and Mamuka Japharidze).

Forum: 19–20 October

Goethe Institut, Tbilisi: 16 Zandukeli st. 0108 Tbilisi
Preceding the Triennial's opening—October 20, 6–10pm—the participants will further elucidate and discuss their perspectives, insights, and institutional environments during a two-day forum. In addition to the above-mentioned participants, a number of speakers and referees will be added to the program such as Irena Popiashvili, Razvan Ion, Sabina Shikhlinskaya and Mick Wilson.

Workshops

Moreover, during the entire Triennial a parallel workshop program for graduate students and young artists will be organized. Workshops will be headed by Annette Krauss, Rainer Ganahl, Stephan Dillemuth, Juergen Bock, Manuel Ribeiro Sanches, Gertrud Sandqvist, Marcel Stötzler, Sarah Cowles, Nazareth Karoyan, Ruben Arevshatyan, Vardan Azatyan, Vasyl Cherepanyn, Mamuka Japharidze & Anthea Nicholson (Shindisi Field Academy), Nedko Solakov, and Tara McDowell (Research Residency). Katharina Stadler will coordinate the program.

The 1st Tbilisi Triennial is also made possible by the support of the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection, Mondriaan Foundation, IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Goethe Institut Georgien, Tbilisi City Hall, Utrecht School of the Arts, Prince Claus Foundation, Frame Foundation, Institut Français (Tbilisi), Bm:ukk (Austria), Open Society Georgia Foundation, TBC Bank, US Embassy Georgia, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Tbilisi and Deutsche Botschaft Tiflis.