Caucasus ArtMag takes start in promoting contemporary art
By Salome Modebadze
Wednesday, February 6
Centre of Contemporary Art - Tbilisi hosted the presentation of a new English language journal about culture called Caucasus ArtMag on January 31st
Authors of the project Koka Vashakidze and Anuka Lomidze have been working on the first issue of the journal from December 2012 but their “cultural adventure” started much earlier.
Vashakidze thinks that the “insufficient inner cultural exchange in the region hinders the society from making progress, consumption and activation of actual topics provided by the art.” This is why the two founders of the NGO Ahuahu decided to raise public awareness of contemporary art and show that contemporary pieces, performances or video installations are more than just “strange, original, extravagant products of art.”
Calling his journal “international” Vashakidze said the Caucasus ArtMag will encourage cultural dialogue among the three South Caucasus countries – Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as promote contemporary art in and outside Georgia; discuss the challenges the artists are facing nowadays and become the platform for sharing experiences in art.
Vashakidze and Lomidze, founders of AhuAhu Foundation for Developing Contemporary Art, are also the authors of most of the articles and interviews with the modern artists visiting Georgia during the 1st Tbilisi Triennial – Offside Effect, in October-November 2012 dedicated to educational issues – probably one of the most important long term cultural events ever held in the South Caucasus.
“Thanks to lucky position of being able to meet all the participants of the occasion, we decided to challenge ourselves and publish the first issue with the title – Issues of Education With… As the answer of possible critics on content arrangement it must be said, that we could only dream about the possibility of interviewing all the encountered respondents around the single edition,” the editorial piece of Caucasus ArtMag reads.
Caucasus ArtMag’s first issue introduces 26 stories, interviews and articles. Letter to the PM of Georgia from Rainer Ganahl; Discussions over Abstraction and Discomfort with Marion von Osten; Generating Possibilities with Lucrezia Cippitelli and Berhanu Deribew; Artistic Expression with Wato Tsereteli; Academy as Exhibition with Henk Slager; Very Long Process with Razavn Ion; Around the Sharing Network with Kenneth Goldsmith; Attempts of Being a Multiplicity with J. Morgan Puett; Report from Baku with Sabina Shikhlinskaya and Sarah Knill Jones; Why Did I Found It with Nazareth Karoyan and other interesting and creative topics are in focus of the Caucasus ArtMag’s January’s issue.
“Artists talk about their experiences and share their general view on contemporary art,” Vashakidze explains.
Caucasus ArtMag will be published quarterly, dedicating each issue to the one subjectively most interesting topic and will remain completely free at least for the next five years.
For more information about the project visit www.caucasusartmag.com and become one of the followers of contemporary art throughout the world and share your feedback with its authors at www.facebook.com/caucasusartmag
CCA – Tbilisi, Ilia State University, Geocell, Pro-Service, Wine Pheasant’s Tears, and the Fleet Group also supported publication of the Caucasus ArtMag. However, the main financial assistance came from donations of ordinary people interested in promoting culture. So anyone interested in the promotion of a cultural journal can donate at least 1 GEL on the account of the AhuAhu Foundation.
Bank Republic; BIC code: REPLGE22
Receiver: AhuAhu;
IBAN #: GE57BR0000010811237407
