Kunsthalle Tbilisi and Goethe-Institute Georgia are pleased to present Tabula Rasa, an exhibition of stainless steel sculptures by Gabriela Von Habsburg.

Curated by: Irena Popiashvili

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 4, 6-8pm

Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia Courtyard

As well as a sculptor, Gabriela von Habsburg is a diplomat and was Georgia’s ambassador to Germany from 2009 to 2013. She is also a professor at Free University of Tbilisi. On display in the courtyard of the Georgian National Museum, the show contextualizes her work with that of four students from the Visual Art, Architecture and Design School at the Free University of Tbilisi: Giorgi Geladze, Salome Chigilasvhili, Liza Tsindeliani and Giorgi Vardiashvili.

Tabula Rasa explores common ground between von Habsburg and the young artists. Title of the show refers to the freedom of context, the clean slate, Georgia provided for her. Twenty years ago when Georgia has been a place with its own distinct artistic identity, independent of the Western art scene, where she too could be free to create and exhibit without the pressure of influences back home. Similarly, the young Georgian artists in this show are starting from zero, without reference to their immediate predecessors, simply responding to their time and environment. Salome Chigilashvili is exhibiting a readymade sculpture with a sound installation. Lisa Tsindeliani’s steel sculpture echoes the surrounding space of the museum courtyard. Giorgi Vardiashvili has constructed a triumphal arch with scaffolding bars, veiling it with industrial fabric. Giorgi Geladze paints on the wrapping for construction materials and this serves as a backdrop for the exhibition. The exhibition is accompanied by catalogue with essays by Kimberly Bradley and Saul Anton.