bonito urban space /concept

bonito urban space /concept

B-U-S

They still exist, the shoals of fat bonito, a type of mackerel, and finger-length Black Sea anchovies, the hamsi. Every year, they migrate from their spawning grounds off Odesa along the coast to Batumi, where they split up. Some swim north, others swim back across the open sea. Bonito Urban Space opened on 15.12.2023 as a temporary space for transcultural encounters and as a temporary exhibition space in the CCA Tbilisi. In Tbilisi, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and Armenia, various population groups from the former Soviet republics, some with conflicting reasons for emigrating, live side by side and have to reorganize their lives in a foreign country. Among them are an above-average number of intellectuals and artists. Is there communication between the communities, are there common plans and activities? Do the destructive energies that accompany a war also have an effect among the (new) emigrants?

Tbilisi, with its historical experience between cultures and at the interface between Asia and Europe, is a possible place to remain in communication right now. The war is changing people’s relationships, the categorization of places, landscapes and images. There are images of before and after. Before images have become after images.
The project is linked to the idea of serendipity, the chance observation and following of something not originally sought after, which turns out to be a new and surprising discovery. The specific feature of the project is its non-hierarchical, open and interdisciplinary organizational structure. The initiators’ self-image includes bringing together people with different life experiences, cultural backgrounds and horizons of experience, linking different artistic qualifications and positions. Last but not least, the aim is to prevent the break-up of cultural traditions and established connections that war brings with it. Bonito means the possibility of building an open platform on which the emergence of new and network-like temporary communities can be practiced.