In the framework of his residency at the CERA Project, Nikoloz will be presenting the findings from his three-year research for the first time in Portugal. His research is about socio-political studies of religious-themed artistic practices from the 1970s onwards, which acted as a weapon for alternative politics in Georgia and other post-Soviet countries.

__

Nikoloz has been researching the rationale of referring to religious (Christian) iconography in contemporary visual arts by the artists from late socialism and post-Soviet periods in Georgia and other (post-)Soviet countries. Although the topic is specific, it also provides the opportunity to discuss the phenomenon of Georgian contemporary art from the 1970s onwards. 

The 1970s was the period when conceptual art emerged in Georgia. It coincided with the “renaissance of the Georgian secular Christian art”: the artists would refer to the biblical themes aimed at personal emancipation and confronting the Soviet authoritarian regime. After the fall of the USSR, the citizens of Georgia (and presumably the citizens of the other Soviet countries) returned to their “cultural origins.” In this regard, professor of religious studies Alexander Agadjanian characterises this return as being very aggressive and intense. During these times, contemporary artists from post-Soviet Georgia revisited religious concepts as an instrument for protesting. However, the addressee of non-conformity here was not the State anymore, but the patriarchal and chauvinist trends intensified after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the institutions backing these trends, such as the Orthodox Church of Georgia itself by playing a central role in solidifying Georgian nationalism. 

One of the dominant conceptual frameworks of religious-themed post-Soviet Georgian art relates to queer topics, as sexual minorities are positioned by the Church (and the Government of Georgia) as the threat to “Georgian traditions.” Considering the centuries-long dominance of Christian imagery in the local cultural context, it seems, in both cases, the decision of the artists (from the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods) to work on religious themes in Georgia echoes Jenny Holzer’s quote: “Use what is dominant in a culture to change it quickly.”

Thus, this 2-hour meeting (presentation & Q&A) will encompass a brief socio-political discourse analysis of the last five decades in Georgia and an iconological interpretation of the artistic practices that referred to Christian imagery as a weapon for alternative politics.