-002 Nina Mdivani
If there is one thing that you can change in a previous project of yours, what would it be?
Photo by: Morrison Gong
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One positioning of the object that I would have changed in the hindsight for visual, but also for curatorial reasons, comes from a group show This is Not My Tree, that I curated at NARS Foundation, Brooklyn in the spring of 2021.
It was a show that was supposed to take place one year before but has been postponed due to the pandemic. The premise of the show was how natural environments and artists engaging with environments and ecosystems can reflect on the themes of migration, belonging, and the feeling of homelessness. Among the artworks presented by fourteen artists were a video and a full-size human clay figure by New York-based artist Jon Gomez that both documented a migrant's perilous journey through the Devil's Highway, Arizona. This figure and video needed a darkened space. But next to it, I positioned a site-specific work by another New York-based artist, Jan Dickey, that engaged with the symbology of hierarchy and control. This piece was blended onto the white wall by the artist and needed strong light to be adequately perceived by the viewers.
The three works were side by side, simultaneously sharing a symbolic space and anti-space. Only one could work for the viewers at a time; it was either a controlled hierarchy or a migrant's journey to freedom. So I ended up switching back and forth between the strong light for the wall piece and a dimmed light for the video and sculpture. Looking back at this exhibition, I see a more metaphorical ramification of this conflict that is very much rooted in our uneasy present-day American reality.
Images courtesy of Nina Mdivani.
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About Nina Mdivani:
I am Tbilisi-born and New York-based curator, writer and researcher. My undergraduate degrees are from Tbilisi State University in International Relations, Mount Holyoke College, both in International Relations and Gender Studies; Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the City University of New York. My previous working experience includes United Nations, Columbia University as well as various nongovernmental organizations, with focus on political or sociological research.Over the last five years I have been invited to participate in various projects with the focus on contemporary painting and photography, women artists, gender imbalance. My first book, “King is Female,” telling the story of three acclaimed female Georgian artists and their journey inside the male-dominated world of societal and artistic traditions was published by Wienand Verlag in Berlin, October 2018 in conjunction with Kornfeld Gallery, Berlin and launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair. You can find more information about the book in My Books section of this website.
From March 2019 to May 2020 I have been selected and worked as Curator-in-Residence at Kunstraum, Brooklyn-based art hub that serves as a multidisciplinary platform for daring and envelope-pushing curatorial initiatives. As a resident curator I worked on putting together exhibitions as well as overseeing additional programming for this alternative space. My residency culminated in the two-part exhibition New York Meets Tbilisi: Defining Otherness that cumulatively presented nine Georgian and five New York-based artists in visual dialogue with each other. Exploring phenomenon of Otherness in various aspects through artworks and finding correspondences as well as contrasts was challenging and exciting. This exhibition project was selected by New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA) for fiscal sponsorship.
Among my publications: “Anna Valdez: Natural Curiosity” (Paragon Books, Berkeley, CA 2019), “Lechaki: Photography of Daro Sulakauri” (ERTI Gallery, Georgia 2018), “The Science, Religion, and Culture of Georgia A Concise and Illustrated History” (NOVA Science Publishing, New York 2017). Previous articles have been published in Artforum, Berlin Art Link, e-flux, East European Film Bulletin, Flash Art Magazine, Hot Coffee Conversations, Hyperallergic, Indigo Magazine Tbilisi, JANE Magazine Australia, Impulse Magazine, Le Quotidien de l’Art, post.MoMA, NERO Editions Italy, Overstandard, Spaghetti Boost, The Art Newspaper, The Brooklyn Rail, White Hot Magazine, and others.
My articles have been published in Flash Art Magazine, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, The Brooklyn Rail, JANE Magazine Australia, NERO Editions Italy, White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Arte Fuse, XIBT Magazine of Contemporary Art Berlin, Arte & Lusso Dubai, East European Film Bulletin Berlin, Coeur Et Art Berlin, Art Spiel New York, Indigo Magazine Tbilisi, Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus blog.
My current and ongoing focus as a researcher and curator is discerning and studying alternative narratives within dominant cultures. My research involves intersection of the art history, museum studies, critical theory and decolonization studies. You can see my recent reviews, essays, and articles in My Articles section of the website and see installation photos from exhibitions I have curated in Curatorial section.
www.ninamdivani.com