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Contemporary Art Archive - Tbilisi

Archive of Academic Writings

2021 Edition of the Project is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia

Scapegoat

Painting

Gagosh

mixed media on wall
2018

When the mining accidents in Tkibuli happened, I remember I was reading a short novel by Kenzaburo Oe that was about a remote Japanese village, where people bring different goods and supplies in front of the protagonist's house. They wait for him to accept the gifts, which signifies that he will become a scapegoat- someone who will take the burden of being mocked, blamed, and cursed on behalf of all villages. This novel had a big influence on me and it was completely in relation with the ongoing problems of the miners who had been chosen as scapegoats-they had no choice and we didn't want to see the reality before a tragedy happened... and yet, still nothing has changed...