VAADS, Free University, Tbilisi, Georgia

2022 Class Prof. Gabriela von Habsburg Vaghtan Bagratzde, Temuraz Eristavi, Tina Janiashvili, Mariam Mestvirishvili

scrap business – “city is full of street markets. from small single standing newspaper and cigarettes stands, to large ecosystems of intertwined pathways of shops. only at night, when sellers wrap and fold their fake Guccis and floral table covers, cold and raw display structures, made from urban architecture leftovers and scrap metal, remain and show their naked form. handmade displays for goods seem ephemeral at first but somehow they manage to stand their ground for long periods of time. they stand as an armor or as a shelter for their owners and for their goods. raw practicality is their starting point but over the time they get more and more domesticated. they take treats of their owners and tell their stories through occasional outbursts of kitch and decor. displays are products of disfunctional class system. they embody constant underlying fight for survival, which blends in urban landscape and remains hardly visible for outsiders eye.” (artists’ statement on their column, 2022)