Eyewitness is the name of a gripping new exhibition running at Fotografia Gallery in Tbilisi, to the opening of which I went on February 22; it runs until March 30, all details below.
The show, featuring about 25 works framed and for sale by six local photographers, has new street photography from the last few months in Tbilisi, concentrating on the protests and demonstrations in the city during this period. The Gallery offers this statement regarding the exhibition:
“Within the context of the current protests, photographers have uniquely positioned themselves to showcase the unfiltered reality of today’s Georgia. We invite viewers to engage with these works not only for their socio-political relevance but also for their sheer visual impact.”
The photographers are: Dina Oganova, David Grigoryan, Tbel Abuseridze, Dato Koridze, Giorgi Kiknadze and Davit Sitchinava.
The turnout at the opening evening of the show was very good, with over 50 people attending over several hours, examining the photographs with great interest, as I did. We also had the chance to meet all four of the photographers who were present for the event.
Most of the protests in Tbilisi have been happening from late evening into the night, offering harsh and contrasty lighting of the captured scenes by fire, fireworks, phone flashlights, car headlights: almost anything but daylight. It is a powerful testimony of what the city (along with other cities and towns all over Georgia) has been experiencing since the second half of last year. I have stayed away…but these people have not.
I appreciate the bravery and commitment of these photographers to attend, witness, and record the events, often in cold, usually in darkness, sometimes in bad weather also, and always at times of greatly heightened tension and unpredictable outcomes as each evening progressed. There must be a record.
Fotografia Gallery
Revaz Tabukashvili St. 21, Tbilisi (parallel to Rustaveli Avenue, behind and near the back of the State Opera House)
Open Wednesdays through Sundays 12:00-19:00
Exhibition on until March 30, 2025
+995 591 12 85 78
info@fotografia-gallery.com
https://www.facebook.com/FotografiaTbilisi
fotografia-gallery.com
By Tony Hanmer
