The Past within the Context of the Present (Attempted Interpretation of the Exposition of Lia Bagrationi’s "A Mad Tea Party")

Abstract

Lia Bagrationi’s last exhibition “A Mad Tea Party”, which was held in Tbilisi in the spring of 2019, is a landmark exhibition of the artist and featured works by the artist in recent years, as well as completely new installations. The exhibition, which opened in three halls, was based on a single concept; however, it had many layers of meaning and enabled a wide
range of interpretations. We will touch on only one of its layers in this report. It is a past that, as is well known in postmodernist philosophy or art, is based on the epistemological disconnection with the preceding historical tradition. Lia Bagrationi has a
slightly diff erent attitude to the past. As a result of his own artistic research, he identifi es the present through the past. The artist uses contemporary art strategies, forms and materials to express the past in the context of current problems. This gives the exhibition a high urgency and makes it a socially active and critical phenomenon.