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From Turin I head to Tbilisi with Tate and am staying in a very cool hotel. A broken old car in the bamboo garden sets the scene
And discover a hidden gallery tucked away in a side street!
All 26 of us arrive and are ready to go we go to the Georgian National Gallery to view the works of Niko Pirosmani. We spot some street art on our walk
Nina Bakushvili Art Gallery
The next day we start with vigour - speeding off to the estate of Karlo Kacharava
The work has been bought in the collection of Tate and the Estate is represented by Stuart Shave in London. Karlo born in 1964 died in 1994. In his few years he was a prolific painter
His apartment is entirely intact with no mod cons. Even his kitchen preserved
Then we go to visit the Latvian artist based in Tbilisi - Thea Gvetadze
Gregor Muir leads a conversation in-front of her work
We stop off at the British Ambassador’s home and it is a glorious day
He proudly takes us downstairs to show us his wonderful Michael Landy drawings of weeds (behind the flags)
Midge Paley spreads her arms to take in the beautiful Georgian weather
Then another home this time of painter David Kakabadze (1889–1952) and the granddaughter Mariam Kakabadze is there to greet us
The house was full of his fascinating work
He would collage many found objects whatever he could find. His home was covered wall to wall with his work. Here is Gregor in the stairwell surrounded by intersting art and items
After we went for a lovely wine tasting at Zala with Leanne and Dakis
We visit the studio of Andro Eradze and talk about his interaction with Animals and nature
We visit Kona books and enjoy viewing the brilliant new collages by Andro Wekua
We head to the beautiful restaurant Alubali and enjoy the delicious Georgian fine dining
In the morning, a lovely Georgian Breakfast is laid out for us at Rooms…
...with a view
We meet artist Tolia Astakhishvili. I thought her work was very interesting and her practice was really reaching into the unknown
Her work varied depending on which project she was work with at the time. She is showing at Nicoletta Fiorucci in Venice and with Emalin in London
Upstairs the family of Tamaz Nutzubidze proudly show the work which has recently been acquired by Tate
On the way out we see a example of Georgian deconstruction design using imagination to create the most magnificent aesthetic moments on a budget
Final visit was the studio Nika Kutatekadze and then it was farewell to my fellow travellers and Tate leaders. This was a most memorable trip!
