Curated by Irine Jorjadze

Nikoloz Tabukashvili (born 1985, Tbilisi) is a documentary photographer and cinematographer based in Tbilisi. After completing his studies at Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University (TAFU), he has been involved in various film, music video, and TV productions. In his black and white photography, he captures the raw reality in cities and villages across Georgia and the broader South Caucasus region, portraying the everyday lives of common people amidst the vast political and economic transitions. His work has been featured in international catalogs, and he has received multiple awards, including the annual Kolga Tbilisi Photo contest.

A series of photographs by Nikoloz Tabukashvili presents part of the reconstruction of Orbeliani and Gudiashvili squares, historically prominent spaces in Tbilisi. The first stage of reconstruction is usually a temporary situation ­– removing and closing curtains until the transformation appears. In the folds and dull transparency of technical curtains, ordinary culture is sometimes still visible – the signs of tailors, libraries and workshops – content shaped by the experience of buildings; temporary or permanent transition stage. In a city that has become a construction site, a different kind of physical movement is required – walking around, avoid stepping on a skinned sidewalk, walking through a space that has been erased and prepared for erasure.