Wilderness as Archive

WILDERNESS AS ARCHIVE
Co-curation residency / funded invitation (presentations and workshops). 22 May – 5 June 2022
AqTushetii Georgia

Wilderness as Archive – an archive programme

Wilderness as Archive was a two-week-long workshop/lecture series, led by curator/researcher and founder of the Wilderness Archive Carlo Rizzo, Artistic Director and co-founder of Tbilisi Photo Festival and Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum Nestan Nijaradze, and artist and founder of the Temporal School of Experimental Geography Luce Choules. The residency included special sessions dedicated to field recording. All workshops, lectures and sessions were held in English.

Over the course of the residency, participants were introduced to contemporary archival practices rooted in fieldwork, as well as historical and recent perspectives on the visual culture of Tusheti. Participants were invited to bring their own research practices to the space and engage with the changing patterns of the late-spring season and the rituals and cultural traditions of the people of Tusheti at this particular time of the year.

Summary:
Research residency staying at AqTushetii residency / co-working studio space provision / 2-week residency programme with workshops, sharing events and final presentations / working with artists, cultural agents, a remote arts centre and cultural spaces

Co-curators:
Luce Choules, France
Nestan Nijaradze, Georgia
Carlo Rizzo, Dubai

Keywords:
Environmental Art, Curated Landscapes, Cultural Tourism, Physical/Human Geography, Ecology and Geology, Survey and Mapping, Archives and Fieldwork.

Travel and accommodation funded by:

Hosted by:

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Link to TSOEG (Temporal School of Experimental Geography) website
Link to Tbilisi Photo Festival IG
Link to Wilderness Archive IG
Link to Wilderness Archive at Fundación Mar Adentro, Bosque Pehuén Residency Program, Chile
Link to Wilderness Archive at Centro Cultural la Moneda, Chile

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Wilderness as Archive – elements of the workshop programme

Week 1, 23 to 29 May 2022 (arrival expected on 22 May 2022)
Opening remarks, workshop leaders and participant brief introductions. The Ethics of Exploration – a reflection on historical and institutional practices of exploration and engagement with wilderness. Participants current research/projects individual presentations (round 1). Group discussion. Optional darkroom induction. Immaterial Fields – a durational performance workshop exploring gravity, motion and stillness. Participants current research/projects individual presentations (round 2). Group discussion. Wilderness as Methodology: an introduction/invitation to the Wilderness Archive initiative and research methods in contemporary archival practices. Participants current research/projects individual presentations (round 3). Group discussion. Optional field recording workshop, theory and practice sessions.

Week 2, 29 May to 5 June 2022 (departure expected on 5 June 2022)
Immaterial Fields – a collective writing session exploring language, structure and form. Immaterial Fields – a collective performance session exploring locality, accumulation and arrangement. Moderated debate for all participants on topics emerging from the residency. Days dedicated entirely to participants’ own research and work, with moderated evening discussions on emerging common topics and research strands – participants are encouraged to work collaboratively and host evening discussions. Talk on Photo Archives are Sleeping Beauties: Tusheti in Shalva Alkhanaidze’s photography. Final presentations.

Link to AqTushetii residency Wilderness as Archive workshop programme

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AqTushetii is a residence program that fosters the arts, culture, history, and traditions of Tusheti while bringing together creatives from around the world to collaborate, create, and share knowledge.

“AqTushetii is a DIY ‘self-organised’ exchange platform. This flexible system tries to resist hierarchy and incite experimentation, in a hospitable environment that fosters autonomy towards each person that takes part. While some events are pre-organised by the co-founders of the residence, most of the happenings of the space/s are decided upon and produced by the residents themselves. Each person who steps into AqTushetii is encouraged to contribute back to the building somehow – the form and shape this takes is entirely up to the resident. This is made possible by the material and human resources available on site. If you want to see something happen, make it happen, and make it possible for others to do so too – the residents of the building are there to help you just as you are there to help them. It is through this ethos that the building functions and produces interesting scenarios and content.”

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REVIEW – Regarding Wilds

Click here to read Regarding Wilds review