DESCRIPTION

A complex of events are planned within the framework of the festival. The festival does not only include painting a wall, which is located in Mestia, in the village of Lenjeri near the Nesgumi Bridge, but also combines educational and cognitive activities. The Georgian Street Art Federation has previously held lectures, seminars, and workshops on various issues related to street art. Our organization also has memorandums with higher education institutions that dedicate their academic space to our guest artists for lectures during the festivals. Both Georgian and foreign artists will participate in the festival, among whom experience and knowledge will be shared. In addition to the actual drawing process, foreign artists will also conduct lectures, which anyone interested will be able to attend freely. Preparations for the street art festival “Gamo-Khate Mestia” began in year 2019 (we made a tour, selected the walls and dropped some “pilot” paintings, in order to check the weather and sun effect, at the same time we checked the feedback from the local population as it is relatively conservative and needs special approach), however, due to the epidemic situation, the festival could not be held immediately. Although this gave us enough time to work, a survey of the population was conducted before the festival began, which determined the main interests of the population, their attitude towards street art and the appearance of painted walls in their living environment (only positive), as well as what local residents would like to see and bring to life on the walls of their district. Based on this, the main direction and content of the festival were determined. As mentioned above The Georgian Street Art Federation already had one pilot project in Svaneti in 2019, which attracted great interest, support and engagement from the population. However, this project showed us that today, in the conditions of this particular festival, it is necessary to apply a protective layer of paint after the painting is completed, which will give the painting an unchanging guarantee of at least 7-8 years and will protect it from both harsh environmental conditions and vandalism. During the festival, artists will share themes, stories, and characters. Scenes or characters related to the history, mythology, life, and traditions of Georgia in general and Svaneti in particular will be painted on the wall, including the first European man; the legend of Amirani; the story of Medea and the Argonauts; the Golden Fleece and ancient, traditional ways of extracting gold; mythological heroes such as: Ochopintre; Rashi; Kursha; Barbale; the horse-drawn zoomorphic flag - Lemi; episodes from the history of Svaneti such as story of the Fusteli knights; the Khalde's rebellion; as well as the theme of national clothing from the history of Georgia; the Georgian alphabet; wine tradition and Georgian architecture. The festival will be somewhat of an experimental process, as 24 artists will share the aforementioned themes and stories while working on one panel, each with their own approach, vision, and style, creating one large collaborative panel about the history of Georgia and Svaneti.