Connecting Georgia in Batumi

In Batumi, Georgia, five artists worked on individual projects together with organiser Zviad Eliziani from the Batumi International Arthouse Film Festival (BIAFF).

The two major topics of the Batumi artists are:

• Cultural heritage related to film production: One part of the artists works with the tools of film and photography to examine and research old buildings that represent landmarks of cultural heritage and film heritage, as some well-known films from the Georgian cinema history were shot there.
  The city of Batumi aims in long-term not only to be a touristic destination, but with attempts of local Ministry of Culture and Georgian National Film Centre, also be promoted as an attractive place for film shooting.  That way, buildings of cultural heritage could be preserved as interesting venues for film production. With their research and documentation, the artists want to highlight the importance of researched cultural heritage places and their potential to serve as future filming locations.
• Seaside and shipyard: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Batumi’s shipyard and ship building plant were demolished. Only a passenger seaport and some cargo terminals remained to the present day.  One of the artists will be focusing on the shipyard stories and transform them into a photographic project by researching and interviewing the people who worked in the shipyard. The series of photographies will tell the story of urban development on Batumi’s seafront and how it was transforming the life of people working in shipyards.

Further artistic projects in Batumi will be focusing on visual art/ musical performance and painting/sketches related to the Cultural heritage and the seaside.

Read more here about Batumi’s challenges regarding the preservation of cultural heritage, and about areas in Batumi important for the history and collective memory of the city.