RCT + TAB 2024 Summer School
In the frames of Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2024

Common Water Bodies

Application deadline: 20.05.2024, 23:59 CEST

The school’s main focus is to explore water as a shared resource in the northwestern Caucasus region of Svaneti, Samegrelo, and Abkhazia, which are connected and separated by the Enguri River. The program will examine the water bodies along the Enguri River, including its delta and the city of Anaklia, as well as their complex political and social history and present. 

Program Design​

The School will be organised in the frames of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2024. Participants will work for one week in groups of up to five, conducting field research on three topics: River Enguri, Anaklia City, and the Enguri River Delta area. Several mentors will guide the participants. As a preparation for this fieldwork, the participants will also be offered online seminars and workshops, providing insights into various methodologies and the local regional context.

Location

Anaklia is a resort village on the Black Sea’s southeastern coast to the Enguri River’s left side. The Enguri River is a significant waterway connecting Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. The river originates from the high Caucasus near Georgia’s highest mountain, Shkhara. It flows through the mountain valleys to the northwest before turning southwest and emptying into the Black Sea near Anaklia. Abkhazia is a de facto state located just a few kilometres away from Anaklia and has been the site of numerous conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2011, the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced a large-scale project on the Black Sea. The project aimed to construct a new city and port named Lazika near the fishing village of Anaklia. The project aimed to improve mobility and logistics in the area and create a bridge between Europe and Asia. The project still needs to be completed and was later transferred to the Anaklia Development Consortium, a joint venture between Georgia and the United States. The consortium, which does not exist anymore, had new plans to transform the village into a private smart city named Anaklia City. However, the city’s future and its natural resources remain uncertain. The project left several buildings on the ground, including remnants of a futuristic city never built. These include the completed but never opened city hall by the architectural firm Architects of Invention, a large-scale sculpture by German architect Jürgen Mayer H., and a deep-sea harbour.

Application

Important dates:
Submission opens: 18.04.2024
Submission closes: 20.05.2024
Announcement of results: 03.06.2024

Applications can be filled out online. All related questions about the application and the Summer School should be directed to the following e-mail address: info@commonterritory.org. Applicants will receive a confirmation of the receipt of submitted documents within 24 hours after the submission. In case you do not get the confirmation, please, resubmit the application once again.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
The results will be communicated through email.

Who can apply

Students, young researchers and spatial practitioners from various fields (architecture, design, ethnography, anthropology, urbanism, etc.), as well as journalists, artists, writers and any creative individuals residing in  Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Germany, Poland and France (up to 35 y/o), are encouraged to apply. Participation in the  Summer School is free of charge.

Submission Process

Applications can be submitted in English or Georgian languages. However, participation in the summer school requires the basic knowledge of English as this will be the main working language during the school’s activities (including all the preparatory seminars and workshops).

Accommodation & Travel Scholarships

Participants in the summer school will receive travel scholarships. Accommodation and meals will be provided by the organisers.

Application deadline: 20.05. 2024 23:59 CEST

Mentors

SPOLKA

Spolka was founded in 2016 in Košice as an informal collective of young women who were connected by their interest in their hometown. Building on the values of care and sustainability, Spolka has been engaged in place-making issues for more than 8 years. Currently, the collective brings together 6 members, from the fields of architecture, sociology and urban planning. Spolka has been part of several international initiatives (e.g. , New European Bauhaus Awards shortlist 2024, LINA fellow 2023, Year of Climate Care 2022 and others) and has successfully established itself in projects with the themes of caring planning and co-creation in Central Europe. In 2022, the organisation expanded its scope to include Spolka Studio, which implements the values of care and sustainability in place-making, design and architectural practice.

Rachel Rouzaud + Bernadetta Budzik

Polish+French team based in Paris. In addition to their career as architects, both of them pursue artistic practice and regularly come together to collaborate on various projects. Using the common ground of academia, they complement each other with their supplementary undertakings: Bernadetta with her writing and scenography expertise and Rachel with her work in tapestry and artistic installations.

Rachel is teaching in architecture schools of Versailles and Bordeaux, and is particularly interested in creating objects to facilitate dialogue between architects and non-architects.

Language of expression: textiles, tapestry, written word, exhibitions.

Contacts

Tinatin Gurgenidze

Tinatin Gurgenidze lives and works between Tbilisi and Berlin. She is the main organiser of the summer school. Tinatin is also a co-founder of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial.

Lado Shonia

email

Lado Shonia lives and works in Tbilisi. He is also the main organiser of the school. Lado is an architect and a co-founder of the W2KSHOP Collective.

Nikoloz Kvatchrelishvili

email

Multimedia artist based in Tbilisi. Co-founder of echofiction art collective. Currently studying architecture at the Free University of Tbilisi.

Partners

The Summer School “Researching Common Territories” is an international project supported by feminist translocalities, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and Creative Europe.