Tbilisi Biennale of Stage Design 2022 took place on October 9-19. The national and student pavilions were exhibited at the Georgian Museum of Literature named after Giorgi Leonidze. The Ukrainian national pavilion, organized by Scenography Gallery with the support of the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia and the assistance of Tetiana Kolotylova, was opened in a separate space – the Gallery of the National Research Center for History and Monument Protection of Georgia.
9 countries attended the Biennale. The following countries presented their national pavilions: Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, Canada, China, Cyprus, and Belarus, with artists-dissidents representing Belarus. Student pavilions: Canada, China, Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine.
In addition, the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts hosted an open master class in artistic embossing by artist Lyudmila Nagorna as part of the Biennale and the Ukrainian Pavilion program.
The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, with the support of the international organization OISTAT, hosted an international symposium in a hybrid format (online/offline) for three days, the theme of which was: TEMPORALITY – PANDEMIC, WAR, THEATER.
The first day of the symposium was entirely devoted to the Ukrainian session. During this session, the curator of the Ukrainian National Pavilion, Bohdan Polishchuk, gave a report, and six artists participating in the pavilion could present their projects to the audience.
Unfortunately, due to the air alert in Kyiv, two of the speakers: Yulia Glushko, manager and co-founder of the Scenography Gallery, and Lilia Voloshyna, a Ph.D. in history of art, were unable to get a direct connection. Therefore, their presentations were presented later on the Biennale’s website.
Traditionally, the Tbilisi Biennale of Stage Design was organized by the Valerian Gunia YOUTH THEATER ARTISTS UNION (YTA UNION) – OISTAT National Center of Georgia, and the Biennale’s director and curator Nino Gunia.