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HOUSE/BORDER

The ArtJunction Foundation, together with Polish and Georgian artists, produced and presented an outdoor performance "House/Border" in Georgia. The group dealt with human dramas that are the consequences suffered by local communities as a result of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and the territorial and political situation imposed on them from outside.

The several-month-long project began with meetings and talks with the inhabitants of the Shida Kartli region, which is still struggling with the effects of armed conflict. In order to better understand the effects of the war and the people living there, Polish artists temporarily settled in the village of Koshka. They worked in towns located in the buffer zone of the conflict in South Ossetia. 

The premiere took place in the city of Gori, the next screenings of "House/Border" were presented at the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre – an international festival held in one of the oldest cities in the world – Tbilisi, presenting Georgian, Caucasian and world performative phenomena since 2009.

Art Junction has established cooperation with Georgian actors from the region. The next stage was a workshop in which local artists could learn about the methods of expression used in Polish independent theatre. The scenario was based on meetings with people living in the areas directly affected by the conflict in South Ossetia. The inspiration for work and conversations with the inhabitants of the areas near the current border zone was Sławomir Mrożek's drama "House on the Border".

 

While the local artists were working, it had just been 10 years since another war in South Ossetia began after a long period of unrest and fighting broke out between the Russian and Georgian armies. From those days until today, the villages remain separated by an artificially marked demarcation line. It affects thousands of people – it has torn families, neighbors and friends apart. Barbed wire for 10 years divided villages, and sometimes even backyard homesteads. Behind him remained people who can not go outside their farm. They are often doomed to the help of neighbors.

 

We wanted to reach not the stories from the front pages of newspapers – but small individual stories. It was also important for us that the subject of the project should not be politics, but the position of ordinary people in relation to historical events. We focused on the lives of the characters on the border, their stories, worries and hopes. We were able to discover their incredible strength and humanity—their love of life—even as it teeters on the edge of uncertainty.

The "House/Border" project was implemented by independent artists and performers from Polish: Jarosław Siejkowski and Barbara Prądzyńska from the Art Junction Foundation, Zbigniew Olkiewicz from the Academy of Movement and multimedia artist Dariusz Błaszczyk, and on the Georgian side: actors of the Eristavi dramatic theatre in Gori, local actors: Levan BeJanishvili, Nino Bolkhvadze, Tamo Chibilashvili, Archil Chovelidze,Izo Chubinidze, Nino Davitashvili, Nino Gochiashvili, Rati Kharelidze, Beqa Khipiani, Dima Kopadze, Giorgi Koshuashvili, Temo Kvitaishvili, Temo Lejava, Tako Mazmishvili, Zurab Mdzinarashvili, Zura Pavliashvili, Saba Qareli, Ana Qavtaradze, Alex Samkharadze, Mari Tlashadze David Tatarashvili and others 

The "Homeuse of Culture and National Heritage under the Multiannual Programme Independent for 2017-2021, as part of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute's grant programme "Cultural Bridges" and by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation under the "RITA – Region in Transition" programme implemented by the Education for Democracy Foundation.

Theatre
for all

Polish-Georgian dialogue on war, aggression and refugees

VOA 

Report from the performance made by the Voice of America

TV DIA NEWS 

DIA Television coverage of the performance House/Border

ART TV NEWS

Report from the screening of the performance Home/Border at the TbilisiInternational festival

EN