July 12 — August 24 2008

Featuring:

• Irina Abzhandadze

• Maka Batiashvili

• Sophia Cherkezishvili

• Natela Grigalashvili

• Levan Kakabadze

• Irina Kurmaeva

• Tamar Melikishvili

• Liza Osephaishvili

Composition Gallery is proud to present "Sorrowful Tunes from a Sunny Land: Photographs from the Republic of Georgia". This exhibit features Georgian photographers Irina Abzhandadze, Maka Batiashvili, Sophia Cherkezishvili, Natela Grigalashvili, Levan Kakabadze, Irina Kurmaeva, Tamar Melikishvili, and Liza Osephaishvili; members of the Contemporary Art Club in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. These striking photographs capture a cross section of Georgian life and represent a variety of artistic approaches.

In conjunction with the photographic exhibition, we will host a screening of the four-part documentary film ‘Sorrowful Tunes of Sunny Land' which surveys four regions of Georgia. In the film, photographers Natela Grigalashvili, Maka Batiashvili, Tamar Melikishvili, and Irina Abzhandadze put local inhabitants to an artistic test on gender sensitivity.

I first became associated with the Contemporary Art Club during the Georgia to Georgia show, an exhibition exchange between their group and Atlanta's Women in Focus in the Summer of 2006.

Founded by Alexandra Gabunia, Nino Gujabidze, Ketevan Gujabidze, Maia Tabatadze, and Natia Gabichvadze, CAC's mission is to protect human rights, to familiarize Georgians with foreign art, and to promote Georgian artists abroad.

I would like to thank each of the photographers, as well as CAC founder and curator Alexandra Gabunia for her invaluable assistance, Ekaterine Shapatava for getting the word out, and Dorothy O' Connor for her help with the editing and printing.-Ron Hughes/Composition Gallery