Georgia: Contemporary Art, Religion & (Queer) Politics

29TH MARCH 2023 > 7 PM I LAGOA HENRIQUES AUDITORIUM

Language: English

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 Nadirashvili is a resident curator at the CERA Project (2023), a program funded by the European Union in the framework of the EU4Culture project implemented by the Goethe-Institut, Czech Centers, Danish Cultural Institute, and Institut Français de Géorgie. During his residency in Portugal, he will research the incorporation of religious themes in modern and contemporary Portuguese art, departing from the period of “Estado Novo” which might echo the Soviet totalitarian regime. Additionally, he will also research contemporary Portuguese art that falls under queer and political subjects. 

Nikoloz is an art curator and historian based in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he works as a chief curator of TRANSCENDENTALIA at Peace Cathedral. Previously, he lectured at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University while managing the Contemporary Art archive – Tbilisi, the Propaganda and Oxygen Biennial. Since 2013, he has been curating numerous exhibitions including at the Georgian National Gallery and State Museum of Georgian Literature. He worked with different organisations namely UNESCO, the Noosfera Foundation, the Georgian Embassy in Paris and the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. He holds a MA in Art History from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (Georgia) followed by an MA in Arts from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands). He is a member of the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art.

The CERA PROJECT is an itinerant art platform for the promotion and exhibition of contemporary art that falls outside Eurocentric and Western narratives, founded in 2016 in London by Portuguese curator Inês Valle. The CERA PROJECT encourages critical engagement with contemporary global issues and fosters dialogue across artists, curators, writers, scientists, collectors, and the public to encourage critical thinking about artistic, social, political, and environmental issues through a diverse portfolio of art projects from culturally less visible regions. Since 2016 it has independently worked with more than 55 participants and with art organisations, museums, galleries, and art residencies from several countries such as Argentina, Zimbabwe, Italy, Somalia, the UK, Nigeria, New Zealand, Portugal, Ghana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

www.ceraproject.com / theceraproject@gmail.com