Can a work of art capture the spirit of an era? Or, more intriguingly, can it reshape our understanding of history itself? On 19 September 2025, Tbilisi will host a day of panel discussions that confront these questions head-on. Titled “Collection and Epoch – Transitional Processes and Creative Responses,” the program brings together leading researchers, curators, theorists, and artists to explore how archives, collections, and memory not only preserve history but actively inform creative practice.
The discussions will focus on the late 1980s and the first decade of Georgia’s independence, a period of social upheaval, political transformation, and radical artistic experimentation. Participants will examine how concepts of epoch and collection evolve over time, and how alternative, dynamic structures of memory allow art to reinterpret history beyond institutional archives and conventional periodization.
The panels accompany the exhibition “Fragments of Transition,” which revisits two landmark presentations of Georgian art abroad: Georgia on My Mind (Cologne, 1990) and Ein Dialog (Berlin, 1994). These pioneering shows introduced international audiences to Georgian artists — including Alexander Bandzeladze, Luka Lasareishvili, Iliko Zautashvili, Koka Ramishvili, Mamuka Japaridze, Gia Rigvava, Guela Tsuladze, Gia Edzgveradze, Karlo Kacharava, and Mamuka Tsetskhladze. Works that had been preserved for decades in the collection of German gallerist Françoise Friedrich are now returning to Georgia, offering a rare opportunity to engage with this formative period in the country’s contemporary art history.
Organized by Art Foundation Anagi (AFA), the event will take place at 12 Zurab Avalishvili Street, Tbilisi, from 12:00 to 18:30, with free admission. More than a series of talks, it is, according to the organizers, an opportunity to witness how art not only reflects the past but actively reshapes our understanding of time, culture, and identity — a chance to see history in motion through the lens of creative experimentation.
