Events

On September 6, at 4 p.m., the Arlekinas cinema (Bangų g. 5A, Klaipėda) will continue the program of the 1st Klaipėda Biennial with a screening of artist Tekla Aslanishvili's film The Mountain Speaks to the Sea (2024, duration: 58 min. 53 sec.), followed by a conversation with the artist from 5:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

In Tekla Aslanishvili's work, infrastructure projects—ports, railways, smart cities—are explored as technologies of citizenship and sovereignty, and the relationship with them is examined. The Mountain Talks to the Sea is a trilogy of films that reveals the costs and impacts of infrastructure in the South Caucasus region, from the mountains to the Black Sea. It also analyzes initiatives such as the European Union's project to lay a high-voltage power line under the Black Sea.

Infrastructure becomes a medium for the artist to reflect not only on technological processes, but also on industrial shifts, the distribution of power between governments, communities, and natural landscapes. Particular attention is paid to southwestern Georgia, a region where uncontrolled cryptocurrency mining destabilizes energy systems and disrupts social ties, while dams disturb the ecological balance. These structures reveal invisible, contested realities that emerge alongside the transformation of the earth's infrastructure.

In the work exhibited at the exhibition, the connection between infrastructure and landscape echoes broader ecological and identity issues characteristic of maritime transit.

Tekla Aslanishvili (born 1988) is an essayist and filmmaker who lives and works in Berlin, Vienna, and Tbilisi. Her work has been exhibited in international museums and art festivals such as M HKA, Transmediale, SculptureCenter, Taipei Biennial, and Baltic Triennial. Aslanishvili is currently an IFK scholarship holder, a doctoral student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and a member of the Graduate School of the Berlin University of the Arts.

Photo by Tekla Aslanishvili.

ENGLISH

On September 6, at 4 PM, at Arlekinas (Bangų g. 5A), as part of the 1st Klaipėda Biennial, there will be a screening of Tekla Aslanishvili's film The Mountain Speaks to the Sea, 2024 (58′ 53″) and at 5:00-5:45 PM – a discussion with the artist.

Tekla Aslanishvili explores infrastructure projects—ports, railways, and "smart" cities—as technologies of citizenship and sovereignty, and examines the relationships people have with them. The Mountain Speaks to the Sea is a film trilogy that presents the costs and impact of infrastructure in the South Caucasus region—from the mountains to the Black Sea—including the EU initiative to lay a high-voltage cable beneath the Black Sea.

In Aslanishvili’s work, infrastructure becomes a medium for reflecting not only on technological processes but also industrial ruptures and the shifting distribution of power between governments, communities, and natural landscapes. Special attention is given to the southwestern region of Georgia, where unregulated cryptocurrency mining is destabilizing energy systems and social relations, and dams are disrupting the ecological balance. These structures expose contested, often invisible realities that emerge alongside the reshaping of land-based infrastructure.

In this work, the link between infrastructure and landscape directly echoes broader ecological and identity issues central to maritime transit.

Tekla Aslanishvili (b. 1988) is an essayist and filmmaker working between Berlin, Vienna, and Tbilisi. Her work has been exhibited internationally in museums and art festivals, including M HKA in Antwerp, Transmediale in Berlin, SculptureCenter in New York, the Taipei Biennial, and the Baltic Triennial in Vilnius. She is currently a fellow at IFK, a PhD candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and a member of the Graduate School at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Photo: Tekla Aslanishvili