Connecting Georgia: Showing of Batumi artists 1/3

Zaira Nadirasvhili – FATHER & Irakli Dzneladze – MEMORY

Live Streaming on Facebook – November 1st 13:00 & 14:00 (Sthlm time)

The event is part of the international project Connecting Georgia, which aims to explore post-industrial waterfront heritage in the context of urban planning and community development through the eyes of artists.

Within the framework of the project, a performance / installation of two artists from Batumi – Zaira Nadirashvili and Irakli Dzneladze – is shown and broadcasted from Batumi, Georgia on 1 November, 2020.

1. Zaira Nadirashvili project – “Father”

Project / Art Concept – combines a paintings, video art and performance. Dedicated to the father of the artist, who was a sailor, a fisherman and was in contact with the sea for fifty years, which remained in the memory of the artist (Zaira) as strong connection to city. At the same time, this installation is a kind of reflection on how the urban environment is changing, how technologies (fishing ships) are replacing the traditional fisherman’s boat, net, fishing traditions of city etc.


Installation objects – an old wooden boat and a fisherman’s net – components of the “memory” that connects the sea and Batumi in the artist’s memories, video art and painting (related to the sea theme).

2. Irakli Dzneladze’s project – “Memory”

The project combines several components – art object, photo exhibition, installation, video art. All this is united around the “memory” of the city, which is reflected in the form of cultural heritage (buildings) in the city, photo archives and the stories of the inhabitants here.

• Art object “Memory” – is a mirror with an old tap (of water). The mirror depicts the current state (a kind of reflection) and the water coming out of the tap, releases it into eternal circulation.

• Photography– in the form of printed photos, stories related to the sea, the shipyards of Batumi and Gdansk (Poland) and the staff working there will be shown. The shipbuilding plant in Batumi was destroyed for a long time, while shipyard is still functioning in Gdansk and therefore there will be quite interesting parallels in this regard.

• Video project/short film – about boat master Mirian Numanishvili – who is one of the last craftsmen making boats by hand in Georgia.

• The installation – Fishermen’s Net – combines the projects of two artists Zaira Nadirashvili and Irakli Dzneladze, which at the end of the performance will eventually remain in the form of memory, photos with different stories about the city, the sea and its inhabitants

“Connecting Georgia” is connected to the Creative Europe funded project “Memory of Water” that gathers six partners in Europe and is funded by the Swedish Institute.

Zaira Nadirashvili is an artist who was born on January the 22nd, 1985 in Batumi, Georgia. Since 2001 she has been engaged in artistic photography and consequently from 2001 until 2014 Zaira held 8 personal photography exhibitions. Since 2014 she began painting and had two personal exhibitions: One of them was held in the National Museum of Tbilisi, and the other was held in the Batumi State Art Museum. The main concept of the exhibition was the fauna of Georgian forests. Now Zaira creates artworks in both spheres of art: photography and painting.

Irakli Dzneladze was born on November 11, 1986, in Batumi, Georgia. After finishing the local theological gymnasium, he entered Rerich School of Arts, Fine art faculty in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. It was a place, where he had been interested in photography and journalism for the first time. Irakli’s got profession of artist-restorer and returned to Batumi in 2004. He had been studying journalism at Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University for 4 years. Since then photography became an integral part of his life.