Billboards around the City: Accidental Encounters

The Tbilisi Public Art Fund is delighted to announce the winning proposal of the open call 'Promotion of Temporary Projects, Billboards around the City’ – ‘Accidental Encounters’ curated by Elina Valaite.

‘Accidental Encounters’ is an experimental series by four young Georgian photographers: Giorgi Shengelia, Ana Patladze, Saba Gorgodze, and Sandro Khutsishvili. The series explores two main dialogues, with the works of Giorgi Shengelia and Ana Patladze forming one thematic unit, and those of Saba Gorgodze and Sandro Khutsishvili forming another. These dialogues are expressed through the photographers' search for moments of connection—whether with other people, themselves, or physical and metaphysical spaces—and the transformations these encounters bring.

This series is characterized by an exchange where one photographer's experience becomes the foundation for another's experiment, blending physical and ethereal encounters that exist in varied realities and follow different temporal and physical laws. ‘Accidental Encounters’ is created in a darkroom using an experimental method, where light becomes shadow, day becomes night, and one image transforms into another. The darkroom serves as a space for experimentation and exploration, where light and shadow are interpreted differently through manipulation of exposure.

Beginning with analogue photography and continuing in the darkroom, this process demands a deceleration that is nearly impossible in today's world of precise and rapid digital photography. The analogue process requires a slowing of the heartbeat and surrender to its rhythms, allowing these chemical processes to mirror inner searches through extended time. The images emerging from the darkroom are imbued with this unique rhythm.

In Tbilisi’s urban context, these personal and intimate works by the four photographers are displayed in public spaces, bridging the micro and macro worlds. This transition highlights the universal language of photography, inviting public reflection on the stories presented.

Giorgi Shengelia (1984) graduated from the Technical University of Georgia with a degree in energy and telecommunications in 2006. In 2012, he completed photojournalism courses at Fondazione Studio Marangoni. In 2021, he became the winner of the European Union Journalism Prize in the category ‘The best documentary reflecting the values of the European Union’. In 2022, he won the Helsinki Photo Festival with the project – ‘Random Portraits’. Along with documentary work, Shengelia is devoted to experimenting with the medium of photography.

Ana Patladze (1997) graduated from Budapest Metropolitan University, Faculty of Photography and Photojournalism in 2020. In Georgia, she worked at the Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum, where she established the online magazine ‘Darkroom’. Through photography, the artist works on both documentary and social, as well as conceptual themes.

Saba Gorgodze (1995) studied photography at Ilia State University 2012-2013. Gorgodze works in different genres of photography such as conceptual, fine art, documentary, portrait and fashion.

Sandro Khutsishvili (1984) graduated from the Faculty of Feature Cinema at Ilia State University. He is a Georgian conceptual and documentary photographer, film director and cameraman. He worked on the feature films 'Name', 'Brighton N4', 'Pool' and others. He has been working in photography for years on a series of trips from Nicaragua to South America, where he explores the universal language that can be spoken everywhere.

Elina Valaite is a young cultural manager and curator. She received her education in art history and cultural management, and also holds a master's degree in advertising and public relations. Valaite is active in the field of contemporary visual arts and has worked in a number of leading institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (2016), National Museum of Georgia, Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts (2017-2018), Tbilisi Photo Festival (2017-2022), Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum (2018-2022), Union of Tbilisi Museums (2022). Since 2022, she is a member of the ICOM (International Council of Museums) Board of Georgia and is an invited lecturer at the Tbilisi State Academy of the Fine Arts on the master's program of museology, museum marketing and communication.

Location Map Here.

List:

Left Embankment

Ana Patladze and Giorgi Shengelia

Left Embankment
Giorgi Shengelia

Left Embankment, near the ‘Kazbegi’ bear factory

Saba Gorgodze

Left Embankment, near the ‘Kazbegi’ bear factory

Sandro Khutsishvili

Right Embankment, 8

Saba Gorgodze

Left Embankment, Ksani Str.

Sandro Khutsishvili

Left Embankment, Ksani Str.

Saba Gorgodze

Agladze Str.#1

Saba Gorgodze

Agladze Str.#1

Sandro Khutsishvili

Eristavi Str., Metro Didube

Giorgi Shengelia

Didube-Dighomi bridge (Didube side)

Giorgi Shengelia

Agmashenebeli Alley (oposite Tbilisi Mall)

Giorgi Shengelia

Agmashenebeli Alley 

Giorgi Shengelia

Tamar Mepe Avenue

Saba Gorgodze

Tamar Mepe Avenue

Ana Patladze and Giorgi Shengelia

Dezerter Bazaar

Sandro Khutsishvili

Dezerter Bazaar

Sandro Khutsishvili

Tamarashvili Str.

Sandro Khutsishvili

Kostava Str. #69

Ana Patladze

Vazha-Pshavela Avenue (M/S Medical University)

Ana Patladze

Al. Kazbegi Str. and Asatiani Str. junction

Saba Gorgodze

Shartava Str., near the City Hall

Ana Patladze

Shartava Str., near the City Hall

Ana Patladze

Vazha-Pshavela Avenue and Kavtaradze Str. junction

Ana Patladze

Vazha-Pshavela Avenue and Kavtaradze Str. junction

Giorgi Shengelia

Tamarashvili Str. (Vake-Saburtalo)

Ana Patladze

Tamarashvili Str. (Vake-Saburtalo)

Saba Gorgodze

Nutsubidze Str.

Saba Gorgodze

Dadiani Str.

Saba Gorgodze

Javakheti Str. (M/S Varketili)

Giorgi Shengelia

Vazisubani, T.Davitaia Str.

Saba Gorgodze

Vazisubani, T.Davitaia Str.

Ana Patladze

Kerchi Str.

Sandro Khutsishvili

Kerchi Str.

Sandro Khutsishvili

Guramishvili Avenue (M/S Grmaghele)

Sandro Khutsishvili

Guramishvili Avenue (M/S Grmaghele)

Ana Patladze

Gulua Str.

Saba Gorgodze

Gulua Str.

Sandro Khutsishvili

K. Tsamebuli Avenue

Sandro Khutsishvili

K. Tsamebuli Avenue

Saba Gorgodze 

Kakheti Highway

Giorgi Shengelia

Kakheti Highway

Ana Patladze, Giorgi Shengelia

Kakheti Highway

Giorgi Shengelia

Kakheti Highway

Ana Patladze

Kakheti Highway, Airport turn

Giorgi Shengelia