Inauguration of the future Tbilisi Center for Contemporary Art (TCCA) in Shindisi

On November 2007, at 4 p.m., the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Tbilisi Center for Contemporary Art took place in Shindisi, a few miles outside of Tbilisi. The Construction of the Center, designed by Los Angeles-based artist Justin Beal and realized in collaboration with Tbilisi artist Gela Patashuri, is scheduled to begin next fall in the burgeoning Tbilisi Heights neighborhood.

In the meantime, the site, currently little more than an abandoned gas station, is home to temporary installations by Wade Guyton, Emil Michael Klein/Gela Patashuri, Rita Vitorelli, and Grand Openings (flags and a pot of tea). As snow began to fall in the mountains above, a champagne toast marked the very cold and rainy end of the inauguration of the future Tbilisi Center for Contemporary Art (TCCA). As the crowd huddled together to stay warm, Georgian art historian Mzia Chikhradze reminded the guests that under the current state of emergency, it was illegal for more than ten to be gathered together in public.