Art - Page 4

Rodrigo Rody Oliviera is a Brazilian photographer that lives in Rio De Janeiro and has been photographing every-day life of Brazilian queer community for years.

The photographer grew up in one of the suburbs of Rio and he had never thought that anyone would take be interested in his works. The queer artist viewed photography as a hobby and he had to go through a very hard path before one creative studio – Rocket Science noticed his works.

The photographer is interested in the queer people and people of color that lives in Brazil – group that is most marginalized and experiences the most oppression.

The artist says that the country is not safe for queer individuals and they have to deal with all sorts of oppression; however, despite everything, the resistance is still strong and in this resistance the artist sees the most freedom and that’s where he gets his main inspiration from.

The artist is an author of a few photo-projects. Here are some of Rody oliviera’s photos:

Davit Khorbaladze is a contemporary Georgian director and playwright, whose first play was staged in 2014. The audience has seen more than 10 performances with his authorship in various theaters. The artist does not shy away from bold experiments in his performances and always offers the audience interesting interpretations of current topics. Sexuality, search for identity, terror of the State against the population, social inequality, and the fate of minorities – this is an incomplete list of topics covered by David Khorbaladze’s plays and performances.

The audience will see a new play by the director in this season. As Davit Khorbaladze explains, this play will be the first part of the trilogy, which tells the story of memory as one of the most imperfect, damaged, transforming characteristics of a person.

Before the audience can return to the theaters that have been closed due to the pandemic, we offer you an interview in which one of the founders of Open Space will share his views on the current processes and the future of the theater:

When and how did you decide to become a theater director and playwright?

When I was in school an art teacher gave us homework to write and hold a small play based on a picture. We had to redistribute the functions, so basically, we were pretend playing theater. I couldn’t choose between being a director or a playwright. I really liked writing, but I didn’t really understand what a director did, and I didn’t know whether I was interested in the theater at all. Finally, no one said that they wanted to be a director so I said that I would be both. I never liked being an initiator or a leader, and I have no idea why I choose to do it then. In short, since that day I wanted to write, to stage plays and basically to do everything connected to public self-expression. I used to write 2 plays a year in school and I was always so happy to do it. They were always kind of scandalous and that attracted me as well. As a child that used to be sensitive, I suddenly felt so powerful, I would look at the audience and once I saw everyone crying, I felt as if I had achieved my goals.

During my university years and after that as well, I’ve always had so much fun with this profession. I even ended up in the Theatrical University by chance. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a movie or theater director. I got incredibly bad grades in the creative exams and I was so lucky that I was accepted. After that I felt very ashamed and for a long time considered myself stupid.

Thirst – Vaso Abashidze New Theater (photo by Ana Gurgenidze)

How did Open Space come into being and what should we expect from it in the future?

We wanted to create an independent space in which instead of a theater, there would be an anti-theater, which in itself involves the idea of a theater, seeing it from a new point of view, not only as a spectacle, but also as an institution. At first, Open Space was a unity of artists that worked in different places. Soon, we found a building and started renovating it together. Today we have the space that is still being developed and formed as a multicultural space for experimental art. I think that it’s very important that we were all united with a desire to create socially and politically active art, that would talk about the modern person using a new language. This is still like that – the reality in which we live, which controls our everyday lives is our main subject of research. Not because this reality is almost always tangible and understandable for theatre, or some other field of art. No, it’s because we can find out the truth together with the audience, explore, search for our identities, question the existing identities, cultural norms, everything. To face all of this ambiguity without any timidity. So, what I want you to expect the most from Open Space is courage and critical viewpoint, that is directed toward the future and does not get stuck in the past.

What are the duties of the Modern Georgian Theater and does fulfill those duties?

Generally, I don’t think that anyone has any duties. We can talk about what duties institutions should have, what kind of political cultures we would like, what kind of governing system, what values should the state and the theater spread, that it at least shouldn’t be a place for fascism, sexism, homophobia. That every government-funded theater should understand that it’s spending the money of society and it should be trying to return it in some kind of a way, that it should be as accessible as possible, that it should have an educational purpose, that it shouldn’t support discrimination of any societal group, etc. The society should be asked – what kind of theater do people want. What is happening now is just inertia. I would remind the Georgian theater, including myself, that it exists for the audience and without it the theater is not a theater anymore.

As for the second part of the question: I would completely stop using the concept of “Georgian theater”. First of all, let’s start with the fact that we have no national theater; it just didn’t happen historically, it couldn’t develop. The fact that Rustaveli Theater has the status of a National Theater is just a falsification of values ​​and nothing more. Second of all, I really don’t understand why there is a need to put the idea of the theater into any narrow national context. Or if we actually do that, which criteria should make something a Georgian theater and which ones shouldn’t? should it be language? Aesthetic? Everything at once? Why would I need to do that?

Protected Areas – Royal District Theater, Temur Chkheidze Studio (Photo – Gika Mikabadze)

What is modern Georgian drama most interested in, what tendencies can be observed in the Georgian theater?

It’s very hard to talk about tendencies when the process of our theater is so fragmented. Probably, generally in drama and in theater as well this fragmentation, segmentation, tribal-sectarianism has been a trend for a few years now. I don’t mean just relationships; the creative process is like that as well, it’s confined and monological. Before the theaters closed down because of the pandemic, I started to see the cessation of such communication in my works as well. By the way, when I was working on the video I realized that I had to overcome this massive barrier to build a live relationship with the audience, I started to think a lot about it.

Worry –Open Space (photo by Lasha Tsertsvadze)

Are the voices of queer community members heard in Georgian theater and drama?

All I, personally, hear is the voice of the queer community. When someone separates queer art I get confused, because there is no such thing as non-queer art. I believe that there is no theater that, on the one hand, urges toward equality and, on the other hand, always questions the reality that we live in. After all, this is a place where people of all sorts gather together and watch, relax, have fun, engage in a performance that, at best, raises questions, critiques the norms. I’m not interested in any other type of a theater and I don’t see a point in discussing it. I believe that we have more important things to think about: It’s time for us, queer people, to be more critical towards art that we create, that speaks of us. Often I am left with the impression that we ourselves are instilling new fascist aesthetic stereotypes in art and only have a primitive understanding of gay sexuality.

That’s why I’d say that, on the one hand, we have some institutional issues and attempts to hide queer art, and on the other hand, we have queer exoticism, artists that market their queer identities. I am fed up with these categories. I would also stop using the word “Queer”, just like “Georgian theater”.

What kind of obstacles can be encountered in Georgian theatrical and artistic spaces if you are lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual?

The obstacles start at the very beginning, in the Theatrical University, in which there are fascist criteria when selecting students. If there’s anything about your appearance that can be deemed non-heteronormative, then you’ll have to fight way harder than others (same as any other field). After that, you’ll find yourself in a “bubble” when you get friends with similar opinions. It takes a lot of endurance to accept yourself and to develop professionally at the same time. I know a lot of artists that can’t even feel the oppression anymore because they’re so used to hiding their identities. But the theater is supposed to expand our awareness. Without accepting ourselves, our bodies, it is practically impossible to create something valuable. However, I still think that the process, in this sense, has begun, and fewer artists are okay with living with homophobia. We shouldn’t wait for a heteronormative “god” to give us the possibility for professional realization, because that will never happen. We shouldn’t lie to ourselves that it will happen on its own.

Parents’ meeting – Open Space, Director: Davit Khorbaladze, Misha Charkviani (Photo by Tako Robakidze)

Apart from the fact that in the last two years there have been almost no performances and the audience has become more distant from the theater, what else has changed in your work? What, in your opinion, did artists learn from the pandemic and how did they use this time?

I don’t know, I think it’s too early to talk about this. What I can say is that the audience has drifted away from the theater that existed only due to inertia. Instead, they became closer to the digital theater that tried to tell them that it can exist even without dusty suits and velvet chairs.

Daddy is hanging himself – New Drama Festival

What do you miss the most in Georgian theater and what are the internal and external problems that hinder the development of the theater?

What bothers me the most is the lack of cultural policy. This is the main thing that hinders the development of everything.

God of Hunger – Open Space. Director: Davit Khorbaladze, Misha Charkviani (Photo – Beka Javakhishvili)

How would you assess the Georgian theater in the past 10-15 years?

It makes me really sad to say this, but I get a dreadful feeling of dysfunctionality when I look back on the last 10 years. There were occasional enhancements, but basically everything died with no development perspective. Now, in this situation, we can start all over, though I don’t know how possible it is. There are many reasons for this: both cultural and economical, which we can’t cover in this interview.

Broken Jaw –Open Space (Photo – Tiku Kobiashvili)

How do you see the future of Georgian theater and theater in general?

I have very negative expectations of the future of the Georgian theater. This country won’t go past satisfying the personal interests of few individuals. Maybe I’m wrong, but sadly, I think that I’m not wrong, and this anger is helping me be more active. As for theater in general, I have my own ideal visions, and I would like to believe that in the future it will be possible to have communication between the performance and the audience without the existence of a specific time and space, so I wholeheartedly welcome technological development.

Interview – Zura Abashidze

Photo: Vakho Kareli

Pose (stylized as POSE) is an American drama television series about New York City’s African-American and Latino LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming drag ball culture scene in the 1980s.  Featured characters are dancers and models, who compete for trophies and recognition in this underground culture and who support one another.

From Characters of Pose, there is Mj Rodrigez, who takes brit place in these movie.Rodriguez, who is currently gearing up for her first Emmy ceremony as a nominated actress. Earlier this year, the performer made history when she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Blanca Evangelista in the final season of Pose, making her the first trans person nominated for a major acting Emmy.

Mj Rodriguez, under her recording artist moniker Michaela Jaé, released her debut single “Something to Say” during the height of Pride Month, it felt like perfect timing.

Speaking to Variety recently about her character’s ultimate outcome, Rodriguez said she was “elated and happy to see that there was a woman of the trans experience who was of color and had a strong Black man who was getting behind her, pushing her forward.”

Although Pose is over, it’s clear that Rodriguez isn’t going anywhere. With the Emmys only a month away, the premiere of Loot on the horizon, and her music career quickly kicking into overdrive, the multi-talented performer is only just beginning — and she has every intention to continue using her platform to help trans people everywhere.

“My goal is that my artistry, whether it’s acting or music, changes the minds of people who hate or choose not to understand,” she recently told Shape. “I hope it helps them realize that just because I’m a woman of the trans experience, that doesn’t mean I have an agenda to harm. Instead, I want to let others know what humans are like, how some of us work, and what we have to offer.”

Source: them.us

Contemporary Georgian art is no longer afraid of homophobic environment. In recent years, many queer artists have become more active, trying to portray and empower LGBTQ+ people with their creativity. Art can play a huge role in defeating homophobia and help to portray queer people from various angles that are usually either covered up or misinterpreted by the state, church, and radical groups.

Here’s an interview with a beginner photographer Butu Bilikhodze (@kaonashi_i), whose first homoerotic photo project LONELY BOYS PARADISE was created to strengthen the queer community and show the vulnerability of the male body.

What were your first steps into photography like?

 I first bought a camera in 2009, it was an old, very low-quality Soviet film camera. This is when my friendship with a camera began. I always liked to take photos of people. The first steps were more about entertainment, I liked the chemistry and character that film camera has. I did try digital format too, but I didn’t really like it so I soon sold the camera. I didn’t take photos for a bit due to a worldwide shortage of film. I have been more actively engaged in it in the past 2-3 years, I have a few cameras of different formats.

What helped you the most in shaping your vision?

I have been interested in homoeroticism for the last few years. I shoot male bodies. I’m not sure what’s causing that. I have a lot of good photographer friends both in Georgia and abroad, maybe they also played a role. Years ago I was a model myself, hired by very talented and successful Georgian and non-Georgian photographers. From that moment on, I wanted to be on the other side of the camera, taking photos. I was actively looking through homoerotic images. I took it for the first time with a friend, very spontaneously and when I saw the photos I realized that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m supposed to be taking photos of naked boys.

What do you think Georgian queer photography is lacking the most?

I wish there was more courage and more openness in queer photography. Georgian society is very small and this is a new topic, but I expect that there will be more positive steps within the community. I often find it hard to get models to shoot, they don’t want their face to be visible. But there are people who do not care about this, which makes me happy and makes me think that more attitudes are changing and we will live in a more open society in a few years.

How did the idea for Lonely Boys Paradise come into being and who are the people behind your camera lens?

The idea of my first, and currently only project came to me when I was taking photos of my friends completely spontaneously, a beautiful song was playing in the background and I heard this name in the lyrics.

Models are often my friends, acquaintances, ordinary people from Instagram. The project has its own character: beautiful, normal, and sad boys, that feel lonely. They live, walk, study, have friends but still feel abandoned. I want to show this sad world through light and delicate shots.

What messages are you sending to Georgian queer society with this photo series?

My main message and goal is to show people interested in photography the beauty of a man’s body, the tenderness that a man’s body has that everyone tries to hide. I want the society to have more acceptance towards bodies and to be able to get aesthetic pleasure from our or another person’s naked body, it is very beautiful. More courage and fortitude is needed.

Georgia is considered a homophobic country, so it is very difficult to photograph homoeroticism, find a model and explain it to them. However, I seem to be like and I often shoot boys, often as their faces are not visible, but still. With the help of these photos and others, I am in search of myself and I also try to help others to find themselves. That is why I want to dedicate this article to all the boys who are on the path of discovering their own bodies, looking for their own way, their own voice and their own opportunities in Georgia or abroad. You are not alone!

What should we be expecting in the future from you? 

Right now I am working on a few topics which I will be starting in the nearest future. The theme is still homoeroticism and male nudity. I am interested in 70-80 gay aesthetics. I really like it and I want to be around this kind of chemistry.

Some foreign queer blogs are texting me for collaboration. I will not hesitate to say that there are certain things that I want to study more thoroughly, both the technical side and the substantive one.

Photography is one of the best ways to preserve history, to observe people, to capture their emotions, and to better understand various social or political processes.

The queer society has come a long way in ensuring that the voices or problems of LGBTQ+ people reach the masses and that people’s perceptions of various vulnerable groups are free from misinterpretation.

For this reasons, a few years ago, one of the online publications asked 35 queer photographers living in different parts of the world to present the daily life of the LGBTQ+ community.

1. Matthew Papa “Hawaii 50”

2.David Uzochukwu: “Manifest”

3.Myles S. Golden “This is your story”

4.Lia Clay “Chris and Honey”

5.Res “Flowers (Blue, Violet, Pink)

6.Laurence Philomene “The birth of hope”

7.Campbell Addy “Black Dolls”

8.Mattew Morroco “Kissing Rolph”

9.Groana Melendez “Pierina is cleaning Harlem, New york”

10.Zen Piet Astrud “Indirect device of persuasion”

11.Diane Russo “Feminine heart, Bach body”

12. Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. ”Hard work”

13.Ryan Duffin “Fyodor is a star”

14.Andrew Jarman “Peeled pomegranate”

15.Alexis Ruiseco – Untitled.

16.Vanessa Rondon ”David”

17.James Caruthers “Kiss”

18.Alvin Baltrop “ends”

19.Jenna Houston “Bridget and Maia in the morning”

20.Sofia Colvin “Magazine #44”

21. Mikaela Lungulov Klotz “Lux and Halloween”

22. Emily Manning “Protest against trump’s administration”

23.Nelson Morales “Queen on earth”

24.Meg Turner „Griffin“

25.Guanyu Xu “Place of mutation”

26.Savana Ogburn ”Eva”

27.Yael Malka ”Chloe in Los-Angeles”

28.Kito Muñoz ”Os quiero, gracias”

29.Jake Naughton “When we were strangers”

30.Lauren Withrow “Beginnings”

31.Jess T. Dugan “kally and Janny”

32.Chris Smith “Untitled”

33. Mayan Toledano “Boys in Ice land”

34.Peyton Fulford “Trevor in the bedroom”

35. Luis Alberto Rodriguez “Josh and Jermyn”

A new documentary on Netflix illustrates an Anti-LGBTQ+ organization Exodus International, that was one of the most famous centers of conversion therapy worldwide, until it was closed by an employee of this organization, Randy Thomas, in 2013. After 2 years of closing, Thomas had a public coming out, announcing that he is gay.

The director of Pray Away is Kristine Stolakis, and the executive producers – Jason Bloom and Ryan Murphy. Murphy is also the director of such popular TV series as Ratched, American Horror Story, and other movies containing LGBTQ content.

Pray Away shows what conversion therapy really is. It illustrates that it isn’t only a discriminatory practice directed toward queer and trans individuals, but it is also a well-designed political movement from decades ago, which is deeply hidden in American Fundamentalism. It is clearly stated in Pray Away that the people who popularized conversion therapy knew exactly what they were doing. They must now assess the gravity of their actions.

The film details how Exodus International was founded. The idea of ​​founding the organization came from five gay men. In the early 1970s, these people could not reconcile their inner feelings with religious sentiments. Their religion told them that their feelings were harmful to them, so they formed a Christian group where they could talk openly about their feelings in order to free themselves from it. They organized a conference for all small groups and from this conference was born Exodus International and the modern conversion therapy movement. The organization came up with the idea that conversion therapy was effective and necessary for LGBTQ + people. They would go to heaven if groups like Exodus were allowed to control their sexual attraction and gender identity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, when queer people died as a result of the AIDS crisis, the pace of movement development accelerated significantly. They used AIDS to prove that being queer was an unnatural and unclean condition. Against this background appeared a woman named Yvette Schneider, who “rejected” being queer and joined the idea of ​​curing queer people with conversion therapy and traveled throughout the country, giving public speeches. Yvette Schneider’s character in the film admits that despite her campaigns, her homosexuality had not disappeared.

Pray Away mostly includes in-depth interviews with conversion therapy activists now referred to as “ex-gays.” The film shows how they were absorbed by the movement, chewed and spat out. Footage of “ex-gay” speakers is combined with today’s interviews. In the old videos they are angry and cruel.

Conversion therapy is still legal in 22 US states. Pray Away may not be the exact solution to the problem of conversion therapy, but its greatest achievement may be to create a platform for people who have survived this brutal practice.

Source: them.uss

Author: Nino Bekaia

”A dark stage, a dancer dressed in a long, traditional red dress stands in front of the audience. The sound of a guitar is heard, Eres una rosa – ” You are a rose ” – a song is heard and the dancer shakes slightly, as if gathering energy. The song goes on, the dance begins. The viewer sees a very familiar and at the same time unexpected scene – a flamenco dancer in a red dress, with a stern look and an airy movement, is not a woman. This is dancer Manuel Lignan, the creator and star of the show ” Viva! ”, Writes the New York Times.

The show was hosted not only by Spain, but also by other countries. Roger Salas, a critic for the famous Spanish magazine “El Pais”, describes the show as “one of the best things happening in the history of flamenco today.”

Flamenco is unique in its essence and form of expression. It has a long history of centuries of music and dance, where men have strictly defined movements, the rules about holding the torso and hips in a particular position, and less movement of the hands. Women, on the other hand, can use their wrists and hips to move the torso differently.

Manuel Lignan points out that from childhood it was unnatural for him to follow the strict rules set for men in dance. From childhood he was taught to dance “como un hombre” – as a man. Flamenco is not just a movement, it is a state, an emotion and an expression of oneself. Later, Manuel also introduces the movements of a woman during the dance, which makes his dances more emotional and free. In the show, besides him, several men dressed in traditional flamenco dresses wore pinnets on their hair – a woman’s hair accessory and flowers.

Rocio Molina is a lesbian dancer who also went beyond the rules. Molina has made changes to her dancing since she was a student. In particular, the defined movements of the hip, which turned out to be artificial for her, were replaced by man’s movements. “I can dance with the same or more force than any man,” said Molina. Each of her dances is so emotional, so powerful and extreme, when you watch, you think, the energy emanating takes you away and you feel all her emotions. You look at this dancing woman and she seems to be in a trance, she goes into her own subconscious and tells you a story.

In her solo show, ” Caída del cielo ”, which took place in New York, Molina uses some sort of vessel filled with red liquid during the dance, which is then poured on the stage. This performance expresses the experience of being her world and body. ” From menstruation, including pregnancy and the postpartum period, women are considered a kind of dirty monster even today. “I wanted to show the beauty of these situations,” Molina said.

Modern flamenco artist and theorist – Fernando Lopez Rodriguez believes that flamenco has always had queer elements. In the early 20th century, cross-dressers (dressed in clothes of the opposite sex) often performed. During Franco’s reign, Flamenco moved to the underground scenes until the 1960s. From that period on, first cross-dressing dancers appeared at queer parties, and then in front of a large audience. The appearance of men in traditional women’s dress was even more dangerous at first, as the law persecuted homosexuals for ”immoral behavior”. Flamenco turned out to be less dangerous to women because a woman dressed in trousers was less dangerous in a heteronormative setting for Spain at the time. Moreover, the pants made the dancer’s legs look good, which was a samurai skirt for men and made women into a sexual object.

Time passed and Spain changed. For 16 years, gay marriage has been legalized despite opposition from the Catholic Church. Even today, queer dancers from time to time receive homophobic comments, and as Manuel Lignan puts it, “This is the world we live in.” Despite everything, the world of flamenco is ready for queer dancers. Their show is sold out in different countries of the world.

Art changes with society and if it does not change, it becomes irrelevant. Art is being changed by artists such as Manuel Lignani and Rocio Molina.

Materials used:

” A Dancer’s Disruption of Conservative Flamenco Culture ”, Fergus Mclfosh, The New-Yorker Documentary, 2021

” Flamenco Dancers who ‘Move Between Genders”, Camila falquez, New-York Times, 2020

Summer is the best time to discover new authors and embark on new adventures, especially if you spend your vacation somewhere out of town, at sea or in the mountains.

In recent years, both in the world and Georgian literature, there are more and more female authors, who, with their vision, make the reader’s experience even more interesting and diverse.

In today’s article, we will present 5 books by women authors, who touch upon various trendy topics with great mastery and describe the world in a realistic way in their work.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi – Americana

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi is a Nigerian author who earned her fame from the famous TEDx Talk show, “We Should All Be Feminist”.

The writer was born in Nigeria and skin color was never a problem for her until she moved to America. In “Americana,” published in 2013, the author shares exactly this experience and shows us what life is like for non-Americans and non-whites in America’s dream land.

At first glance, it may seem that the book is far from the problems that Georgian society is facing today, but reading the novel, you will see for yourself that in reality people are more alike than they are different, and despite geographical distance or skin color, problems, hardship and humiliation It affects all nations equally.

This book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adic is full of love, hope and compassion just like the author. The author looks for reasons for hatred, inequality, alienation and tries to change the world for the better, and you, too, realize when you read that you become part of these changes.

The book was translated into Georgian by Ekaterine Machitidze.

Keti Nizharadze – Sunny Side

Even when the Soviet Union was in its last decade and Georgia knew nothing about the horrific 1990s that were soon approaching. A woman lived in Tbilisi who wrote about women’s problems and the difficulties of being a woman in a world ruled by men.

This woman’s name is Keti Nizharadze and until now she was known only to a narrow circle of readers. However, thanks to “Melani” her full work was published, called “Sunny Side”. It incorporates the author’s short novel “autoportrait”, unfinished novel “Sunny Side” and a few other short stories.

Keti Nizharadze’s texts are characterized by truthfulness and simplicity, her texts fill a kind of literary emptiness and show that the daily life of women has not changed significantly during the last 40 years and their struggle for freedom, love and development is still ongoing.

Unfortunately, Keti Nizharadze left this fight in 2000, at the age of 45, ended her life by committing suicide. However, there are literary texts that will surely find the reader in the present as well and will give another life to the author.

Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other

In 2019, the Booker International Prize was awarded simultaneously to two authors, Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, and Bernardine Evaristo. This was the first time in the history of British Booker that an award was given to a woman of color.

”Girl, Woman, Other ” is a polyphonic novel where the author does not concentrate on just one character but devotes the pages of the book to many different characters and their stories. Ama, Yazi, Dominic, Carol, Boomy, La Tisha, Shirley, Winsom, Penelope – this is a non-exhaustive list of the characters you will meet in the book. Their problems are different, though they have one thing in common, they find it equally difficult to find their way in this world because of their gender.

In Bernardine Evaristo’s book you will meet all kinds of women, women who are at the peak of professional development, women who are engaged in housework, women who have children, women who are in an unhappy marriage and finally, you get the feeling that you listened to all women. You took a look at their lives and that is probably the main purpose of this book.

The book by Bernardin Evaristo was translated by Tamar Japaridze.

Sally Rooney – Normal People

Writing about love and couples in our century has become especially difficult. On the one hand, many books have been written on the subject and all authors have to go through a very difficult path to avoid falling into the whirlpool of banality. On the other hand, we no longer hear about heartfelt love stories as much.

The young Irish author, Sally Rooney, took this task well and in just a few years published a book that applies equally to readers of all ages or experiences. It is impossible to have been in love at least once and not understand Marianne and Connell.

Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” differs from other books about love in that the book’s characters are millennial children of the modern world who share a story full of their resistance, passion, pain and love.

The book was translated by Guram Gongadze.

Rosa Liksom – Coupe number 6

Rosa Liksom is a Finnish author of several novels. Only coupe number 6 was translated from her books into Georgian and tells the story of a Finnish girl traveling by train to the abandoned villages and cities of Russia.

The girl doesn’t travel alone, there is a middle-aged Russian man with a distorted worldview in her coupe and the girl is forced to listen to the man all the way.

The novel is especially interesting today, when our citizens are burning the EU flag and looking at the road toward Russia with more hope. This book clearly shows what Russia is like today, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the book Coupe Number six you can see deserted cities and large rivers, which so well reflect the modern look of Russia.

Based on the book, a film was also released in 2021, which just a few weeks ago was awarded a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The book was translated from Finnish by Dimitri Gogolashvili.