So, here’s a brief overview of the exhibition and sale of Georgian women artists that took place in Basel from August 23 to 30, 2024. To start, I need to go back a bit further. In 1918, in London, Constance Smedley founded the women’s club “Lyceum,” where her husband spent his evenings at clubs for men. This club became a hub for social life among women. At that time, women in other cities and countries were also experiencing a deficit in socially active lives, so Constance Smedley’s initiative “caught on” and soon spread first throughout Europe and then beyond. Just 14 years later, a similar club was established in Basel, Switzerland. The Basel club has been in existence for over a century. The first Georgian member of the Basel Lyceum Club, Nino Gamsachurdia, founded a similar club in Tbilisi in 2020.
Throughout this time, our newly established club had only interacted with clubs from other countries online. There were lectures, shared impressions of travels, presentations… and now, this August, we finally stepped out of the digital space! Our “mother” club in Basel, again initiated and organized by Nino Gamsachurdia, invited us for an exhibition. From the very first day of the Tbilisi club’s establishment, the N9 Gallery has been our host, a hub for concerts and exhibitions. The gallerist, Maka Iovadze, is an indispensable member of the club. Thus, the task of inviting artists, conceptualizing, and organizing the exhibition was assigned to her.
Works of different genres, styles, and media—such as painting, graphics, digital media, textiles, collage, jewelry, and accessories—were united around the concept of “home.” In front of the main cathedral in Basel, on the bustling Münsterplatz, visitors saw the works of 12 female artists in the Lyceum Club space over the course of a week. These artists included Tamuna Melikishvili, Tamriko Melikishvili, Anka Kalatozishvili, Maka Gotsiridze, Keti Batiashvili, Maka Siamashvili, Maka Jishkariani, Keti Benashvili, Tamar Gedevanishvili, Nino Chitaishvili, Natashka Gegenava (jewelry brand Natanava), Khatuna Bezhuashvili Beju (jewelry brand Beju), and Tamta Alkhazashvili (accessories). One piece by an amateur artist, diplomat Ketevan Esiaashvili, was also exhibited—she had served as the consul of Georgia in Switzerland for years, and a view of Switzerland painted by the author hung on the wall of her office as a symbol of her love for the country.
The opening of the exhibition was unexpectedly attended by a large number of people, not only members of the Basel club but also women (and not only) who had come from other cities and countries (Germany, France). On the opening day, Georgian pianist Tamuna Beraia performed works by European and Georgian composers. The Basel club specially purchased Georgian wine from NinoVino for the vernissage.
In the following days, many people continued to come and go from various countries. It was especially pleasant to hear their enthusiastic feedback. For example, that Tamriko Melikishvili’s works deserve a place in the Beyeler Foundation (!!!).
Or consider the fact that Keti Batiashvili’s work was purchased by the heir of Rudolf Staechelin, who owns a collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works exhibited earlier in the Basel Kunstmuseum and later in the Beyeler Foundation. You can say whatever you want, but the fact is: the man sold a Gauguin (which we later Googled) and bought Keti Batiashvili! The chess player herself, a fan of Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze, and a lover of Pirosmani, joyfully received a gift of charcoal graphics by Keti Benashvili (with whom she spent a long time admiring the works with great interest).
One of the literary women could not wait until the end of the exhibition and made a purchase on the very first day—a collage made with fabrics by Anka Kalatozishvili.
Among the buyers of our artists’ works were art critics, artists, and art lovers. Today, this painting and graphics adorn the interiors of Basel and other European cities, while local women wear jewelry by Khatuna Bezhuashvili and Nata Gegenava. Believe me, it is one thing to go abroad as a tourist, to be just a drop among countless tourists, and no one will recognize you, and it is entirely different when there is such interest in you, and as a result, you leave your creative mark there!
This interest in us is also due to Tsira Bewick, the president of the Georgian Lyceum Club. It was thanks to her contacts and recommendations that people came from various countries. The Tbilisi Lyceum Club received future proposals to hold similar exhibitions in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and beyond the continent, in Melbourne.
Wishing success to the Georgian Lyceum Club, N9 Gallery, and Georgian artists! And once again, a special thank you to the Basel Lyceum Club and the exhibition organizers Ursula Traber and Nino Gamsachurdia, along with her husband Sandro Laiso for the photos!