Avant-Garde in Georgia

In the turbulent global context following the fall of the Russian Empire and the October Revolution, Georgia declared its independence in 1918. Between then and the beginning of Soviet rule in 1921, an Avant-Garde creative scene burgeoned. Artists met, mainly in the many taverns and cafés in Kutaisi and the capital Tbilisi, to organize multidisciplinary events. Their frequent collaborations and interactions, which bore the imprint of Georgian tradition and Western and Eastern influences, took various forms: paintings, drawings, films, photos, performances and typographical experiments. Divergent movements such as Symbolism/Neo-Symbolism, Futurism, Dadaism, Zaum, Expressionism, Cubism and Cubo-Futurism existed side by side in unprecedented creative turbulence. This book tells the unknown story of a vibrant Avant-Garde in the Caucasus, born in the taverns of Tbilisi – artistic laboratories where anything was possible, but where Soviet censorship lurked. Extensively illustrated with works by Elene Akhvlediani, Gigo Gabashvili, Irakli Gamrekeli, Lado Gudiashvili, David Kakabadze, Petre Otskheli, Niko Pirosmanashvili, Ilia and Kirile Zdanevich, and many others. The publication coincides with the exhibition of the same name, The Avant-Garde in Georgia (1900–1936), which runs at BOZAR, Brussels from 5 October 2023 to 14 January 2024 and is part of the Europalia arts festival.