, Hannibal Books, 2023 HB, 320 x 240 mm, ENG edition, 288 pages, NEW, illustrated in colour / b/w. ISBN 9789464666632.
In the turbulent global context following the fall of the Russian Empire and the October Revolution, Georgia declared its independence in 1918. Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1921, an avant-garde creation could develop. Artists mainly met in the many taverns and cafes in Kutaisi and in the capital Tbilisi to organize multidisciplinary events. The many collaborations and interactions, characterized by Georgian traditions and Western and Eastern influences, expressed themselves in various forms: paintings, drawings, films, photographs, performances and typographic experiments. Diverse movements such as (neo-)symbolism, futurism, dadaism, zaum, toutism, expressionism, cubism and cubofuturism coexisted in unprecedented creative impetuosity. This book tells the unknown story of a vibrant avant-garde in the Caucasus, which emerged in the taverns of Tbilisi: artistic laboratories where anything was possible but where Soviet censorship lurked. More than 150 works by Gigo Gabashvili, Alexander Salzmann, Shalva Kikodze, the brothers Kirill and Ilya Zdanevich, Sergei Sudeikin, Igor Terentiev, Elene Akhvlediani and David Kakabadze, among others, are discussed in detail in various scientific articles. The publication is published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name The avant-garde in Georgia (1900-1936) from October 5, 2023 to January 14, 2024 in BOZAR, Brussels, and is part of the Europalia arts festival.