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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

Citrus Trees Covered Against the Frost

Installation

Mariam Akubardia

Armchair, plants, grass, soil
2019
Photo: Photo credits: Mariam Akubardia

What creates a sense of home?

Home is not simply a place of birth or space where we spend a lot of time in. Home is the environment that we create under a ceiling and between the walls. It reflects us and makes us calm.

The sense of home is an inseparable part of the human experience. It is a place where we express ourselves. We are connected to what we call our home through history and memories.

However, the environment where we were born, grew up, and continue living might not be loyal. We lose the sense of home when we do not see ourselves as a part of the society we live in. When the individuals are excluded, their voices disappear with the sense of home. The walls disappear; so does the ceiling and moments of calmness. The furniture, which once represented comfort, is covered by grass.

The problems of internally displaced people are not solved. For me, as an internally displaced person, not having a sense of home is familiar.

"Citrus Trees Covered Against the Frost" is an illustration of vulnerability, homelessness, displacement, and forced migration. It is a memory of an unreachable home left behind.

The Grass used in the installation is growing in the spaces of those people whose voices are not heard. In the abandoned houses grass covers the most intimate and precious.

The art project is the winner of the call “Women in the Fields of Design and Planning” competition, which was announced by the Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi office as part of the Women of Bauhaus project. It aimed to discover and support new ideas that incorporate public spaces and design.