EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
1997 Postgraduate Diploma in Audiovisual Media / Academy of Media Arts Cologne / Germany
1983 – 1989 Study of scenography, painting, film and art history at the Academy of Fine Arts / Tbilisi, Georgia  

 

GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2026 Artist residency / Cité Internationale des Arts Paris

2024 Research trip to Armenia / Culture Moves Europe – EU Mobility Grant

2023 Artist residency / Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain / Brussels 

2022 Artist residency / message salon embassy / Zurich

2020 – 2022 Artist grant / Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

2019 Research trip to NYC / Visual Arts Project Fund, Goethe-Institut, Munich

2014 Project funding / Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, Munich

2010 Research trip to Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi / Visual Arts Project Fund, Goethe-Institut, Munich

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
 

EXHIBITIONS & CURATORIAL PROJECTS 

2026 GEORGIA. BEYOND THE MYTH / in development / Berlin

2025 EU4DIALOGUE PROJECT PRESENTATIONS / Goethe-Institute Georgien / Tbilisi 

2025 ACROSS THE DIVIDE. SOUTH CAUCASUS AND MOLDOVA / Reset Atelier, Brussels

2024 DINNER WITH PARAJANOV / installation / Hetjens – Deutsches Keramikmuseum Düsseldorf

2023 DINNER WITH PARAJANOV / installation / Venice Design Biennial, Venice

2022 HOTEL IVERIA. THE CITY AND THE TOWER / Architektur Galerie Berlin, Berlin

2021 TBILISI NOT HERE – NOT THERE / ZAZ Zentrum Architektur Zürich

2020 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER / Tbilisi Architecture Biennial #2 / presented by TBC Concept, Tbilisi

2018 GEORGIA IN FIVE STATIONS / co-curated with Adolph Stiller / series “Architecture at the Ringturm” / Ringturm, Vienna

2018 HYBRID TBILISI / co-curated with Peter Cachola Schmal / DAM Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main

2018 DYNASTIES. PARALLEL PERSPECTIVES / Georgian National Museum / History Museum, Karvasla, Tbilisi

2016 EUROSTYLE / series “A Private City” / presented by A Trans, Berlin

2014  HOTEL ORIENT / HAUS DER KÜNSTLER / State Museum of Literature, Tbilisi

2013 PAUL(A) STERN – UNKNOWN ARCHIVE / Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography, Tbilisi

2012 BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW / presented by Undergo. the Parallels, curated by Nini Palavandishvili / Tbilisi

2007 LOCATION:GEORGIEN #3 / Georgian National Museum / History Museum, Karvasla, Tbilisi / Link to project web-site
2007 LOCATION:GEORGIEN #2 / Willy-Brandt-House, Berlin / Link to project web-site

2007 LOCATION:GEORGIEN #1 / Trinity Church, Cologne / Link to project web-site

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FILM PROGRAMS & SCREENINGS 

2024 PARAJANOV 100 / presented by Allerweltskino e.V at the Filmforum Museum Ludwig, Cologne

2024 PARAJANOV 100 / presented by BLACK BOX Kino & Filmmuseum Düsseldorf

2024 PARAJANOV 100 / presented by DFF Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum Frankfurt

2024 PARAJANOV 100 / presented by Filmmuseum München, Munich
2024 PARAJANOV 100 / presented by Kino Arsenal, Berlin
2013 RETROSPECTIVE MIKHAIL KALATOZOV 1903–1973 / presented by Allerweltskino e.V at the Filmforum Museum Ludwig, Cologne 

2010 HOMAGE SERGEI PARAJANOV 1924–1990 / Filmforum Museum Ludwig & Projektraum R33, Cologne
2008–2002 MADE IN GERMANY / annual presentation of German films at the Tbilisi International Film Festival, Tbilisi  

2007 LOCATION:GEORGIEN #2 / Kino Arsenal, Berlin

2007 LOCATION:GEORGIEN #1 / Filmforum Museum Ludwig, Cologne

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PUBLICATIONS (AUTHOR / EDITOR)

2026 HOW YOU GET THERE DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU’RE / essay in: Revolved. Five Years Told by Georgian Artists / Publisher: Three Hundred Sixty-Five, Tbilisi

2025 HOTEL IVERIA / National Geographic Georgia, Dec 2025 / essay (online, Geo)

2024 COLOGNE CENTRAL STATION & TBILISI CENTRAL STATION / essays in: Railway Stations in Europe / Adolph Stiller (ed.) / Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg 

2024 THE SIRENS OF THE SHIP IN THE CITY OR THE SHIP IN THE CITY OF SIRENS / commissioned by the Tbilisi Public Art Fund / essay (online, Geo/En)

2024 DINNER WITH PARAJANOV (ed.) / booklet for exhibition / Hetjens – German Ceramic Museum, Düsseldorf

2023 ZEITREISEN EINES POSTMODERNISTEN. WERKSCHAU SERGEJ PARADZANOV / essay in: Filmmuseum München, brochure, no. 50, pp. 83–87, Munich

2022 BUILDING SOCIALIST GEORGIA (co-ed. with Nini Palavandishvili) / book, English & Georgian editions / Goethe-Institut Georgien, Tbilisi

2022 HOTEL IVERIA (ed.) / booklet for exhibition, Berlin

2022 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER / essay in: What do we Have in Common / Tbilisi Architecture Biennial Catalogue, pp. 180–193, Tbilisi

2022 CAUCASUS. A Reference Archive (co-ed. with Esther Eppstein) / zine, limited edition / message salon embassy, Zurich

2021 TBILISI: NOT HERE – NOT THERE (ed.) / brochure for exhibition / Brücke Zürich–Tbilissi / ZAZ Zentrum Architektur Zürich

2020 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER (ed.) / fold-out poster for exhibition, Tbilisi

2018 HYBRID TBILISI. Reflections on Architecture in Georgia (co-ed. with Peter Cachola Schmal) / book / DOM Publishers, Berlin

2018 ZWISCHEN KAUKASUS UND SCHWARZEM MEER. Georgia in Five Stations / Stiller, Adolph (ed.) / catalogue texts / Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg

2018 GEORGIEN IM WANDEL. WIND, DER WEHT / Nielsen, Fried (ed.) / illustrations / book, third edition / Wieser Verlag, Klagenfurt

2016 TBILISI. Architecture at the Intersection of Continents / Stiller, Adolph (ed.) / scientific assistance & catalogue texts / Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg

2016 EUROSTYLE (ed.) / booklet for exhibition, Berlin

2014 HOTEL ORIENT/HAUS DER KÜNSTLER (ed.) / book / published with support by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung / State Museum of Literature, Tbilisi

2013 HAUSKOCHBUCH / Nielsen, Fried (ed.) / illustrations / Nieswand Verlag, Kiel

2013 PAUL(A) STERN – UNKNOWN ARCHIVE (ed.) / edition for exhibition / State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography, Tbilisi

2007 LOCATION: GEORGIEN (ed.) / fold-out poster for exhibition / published with support by the SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne 

2007 LOCATION: GEORGIEN. A Close-up View of a Country / articel in: 24 Saati, no. 66, Tbilisi
2007 LOCATION: GEORGIEN. A Close-up View of a Country / essay in: Cinema – Ckheli Shokoladi, no. 5, Tbilisi

2000 GEORGIEN IM WANDEL. WIND, DER WEHT / Nielsen, Fried (ed.) / illustrations / first edition, Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt am Main

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & CATALOGUES

2025 Murawski, Michał (ed.). A FORM OF FRIENDSHIP: The Museum on the Square / pp. 56–57 / University of Chicago Press / the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw

2023 AUTO-EXOTIC. Design Takes You Elsewhere / exhibition catalogue, pp. 66–69 / Venice Design Biennial #4

2015 Reck, Hans Ulrich (ed.). CARTE BLANCHE / book, pp. x–x / Academy of Media Arts Cologne

2014 Bodrožić, Nataša; Palavandishvili, Nini (eds.) / SPACES. Cultural Public Sphere in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine / book, pp. 33, 47–48 / Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz, Weitra, Austria

2013 Mechitov, Yuri; Sulamanidse, Tamar (eds.) PHOTAGRAPHY IN GEORGIA 1955–2012 / book, pp. 544–545 / Pilots, Tbilisi

2013 Slager, Henk (ed.) OFFSIDE EFFECT. Academy as Exhibition 1st Tbilisi Triennial / book, pp. 24–27 / Metropolis M Books, Utrecht, The Netherlands

2010  Emrich, Hinderk M. (ed.) ÜBER DIE VERWANDLUNG VON ZEIT IN GEGENWART IM FILM. Zur philosophischen Psychologie von Realität und Traum im Kino / Lectures at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne 1995–2005 / book, p. 138, Cuvillier Verlag, Göttingen

2008 Adams, S; Morioka, N; Stone, T.L. (eds.) A Real-World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design / book, pp. 122–123 / Rockport Publishers, Beverly, USA

2005 Fiell, Charlotte & Peter (eds.). GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY / book, p. 177 / Taschen Verlag, Cologne

1997 Kruse, Joseph A. (ed.) ICH NARR DES GLÜCKS: Heinrich Heine 1797–1856; Bilder einer Ausstellung / exhibition catalogue, p. 566 / Verlag J.B. Metzler

 

LECTURES, TALKS & ARCHITECTURE TOURS

2026 FILM AND ARCHITECTURE #1 / lecture series / Art Foundation Anagi, Tbilisi

2026 DISCOVER TBILISI. BATHS, CHURCHES, REVOLUTIONS / architecture tour / Heinrich Böll Foundation tour group, Tbilisi

2024 LEFT BANK STORIES. THE MARJANISHVILI QUARTER IN TBILISI / architecture tour / commissioned by ZEIT-Stiftung Bucerius, Hamburg / Tbilisi

2024 CITY ICONS. URBAN SPACE AND ARCHITECTURE / architecture tour / Cultural Management Academy #6 / Commissioned by EU4Dialogue / Tbilisi

2022 ARCHITECTURE: BETWEEN OPTIMISM AND CLAIM TO TRUTH / conference / Architektur Galerie Berlin

2022 CAUCASUS. A REFERENCE ARCHIVE / lecture / collaboration with message salon embassy / Kunsthalle Zürich​

2020 ART CIRCLE / conversation with Mariam Natroshvili / Tbilisi Architecture Biennial #2

2020 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER / architecture tours / Tbilisi Architecture Biennial #2​

2020 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER / lectures / Tbilisi Architecture Biennial #2

2020 PLACES OF CRIME, CULTURE MACHINES AND TBILISI IN THE MOONLIGHT / lecture / Universität der Künste Berlin

2020 INVISIBLE FACTS OF TBILISI ARCHITECTURE / lecture / welovearchitecture #17 / BDA & Projektraum Schilling, Cologne 

2019 CURATORIAL PRACTICE, METHODS, AND EXPERIENCES / lecture / David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

2019 GREETINGS FROM TBILISI / architecture talk / Recyclart Centre d’Arts, Brussels

2019 Architecture tour commissioned by FHNW – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Basel / Tbilisi

2018 UAA TALKS: conversation with Peter Cachola Schmal & Irina Kurtishvili / Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies, Cologne

2018 POST-SOVIET LIFESTYLES? / panel discussion moderated by Mahret Kupka / MAK Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main

2018 ENRICHING BOOKS AND BUILDINGS: NEW PUBLICATIONS ON ARCHITECTURE IN GEORGIA / symposium with DOM publishers / Parochialkirche, Berlin

2018 DYNASTIES / conversation with Stephan Böhm, Peter Böhm & Paul Böhm / Tbilisi History Museum

2014 CCA Visiting Artist Lecture Series / Centre of Contemporary Art, Tbilisi

2004–2006 Visiting Artist Lecture Series / State Academy of Fine Arts Tbilisi & Goethe-Institut Georgia

2003–2005 Guest Lecturer / Institute for Media Studies, Ruhr University Bochum

1998–2005 Guest Lecturer / ifs International Film School Cologne

 

PRESS & REVIEWS  

2026 WHEN ARCHITECTURE BECOMES A CHARACTER: Irina Kurtishvili on Cinema, Space and the City / Georgia Today, March 30, Tbilisi

2026 Nechaev, Ivan. CINEMA AS A BUILT ENVIRONMENT: How Tbilisi Learns to Watch Architecture / Georgia Today, Jan 29, Tbilisi

2024 Möller, Olaf. VERFEMT UND GEFEIERT. Bildgewaltig: Eine Werkschau mit Filmen von Sergei Parajanov / Stadt Revue, no. 4, March 28, Cologne

2022 Fridrich, Jan. NATÜRLICH TBILISSI! / Bauwelt, no. 235, Sept 27, Berlin

2021 Arabuli, Nastasia. TALKS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE, POLITICS AND IDENTITY IN THE MARJANISHVILI DISTRICT / TBC Concept, March 27, Tbilisi 

2021 MARJANISHVILI QUARTER – HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF THE EXHIBITION / Hammock Magazine x TBC Concept, March 29, Tbilisi 

2020 Kikwidze, Nino. MARJANISHVILI QUARTER / Indigo, Nov 10, Tbilisi / article (Geo)

2020 Barbakadze, Ketevan. ARCHITECTURE CONCEPT – What Not to Miss at the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial / TBC Concept x Hammock Magazine, Oct 21, Tbilisi
2020 Koroshanidze, David. WHAT DO WE HAVE IN COMMON? – 2nd Tbilisi Architecture Biennial / AT Concept, Oct 16, Tbilisi
2020 TBC CONCEPT IS ORGANISING THE EXHIBITION ‘MARJANISHVILI QUARTER’ AT MARJANISHVILI 7 / Entrepreneur Georgia, Oct 16, Tbilisi

2018 Cichosch, Katharina. IN GEORGIEN BAUEN SIE KAMIKAZE / Der Spiegel, Nov 13
2018 Marti, Dominic. ZWEIERLEI / Hochparterre, Nov 2, Zurich
2018 Schmidt, Juliane. VERGANGENHEIT, GEGENWART, ZUKUNFT: AUSSTELLUNG HYBRID TBILISI / Detail, Oct 17, Zurich
2018 Tamm, Julius. MOSAIK DER GESCHICHTE / Frankfurter Rundschau, Oct 10
2018 Gegidze, Mariam. BUCHTIPP: DREI BÜCHER ÜBER GEORGIEN / BauNetz, Oct 10, Berlin
2018 APA. RINGTURM LÄDT ZU GEORGIEN-ARCHITEKTURAUSSTELLUNG / Salzburger Nachrichten, Oct 10 

2018 Baumhackl, Ute. RINGTURM LÄDT ZU GEORGIEN-ARCHITEKTURAUSSTELLUNG / Kleine Zeitung, Oct 22

2018 FRANKFURTER ARCHITEKTURMUSEUM WÜRDIGT BAUKUNST IN TBILISI / Frankfurter Neue Presse, Sept 25
2018 HYBRID TBILISI. AUSSTELLUNGSERÖFFNUNG IM DAM FRANKFURT / BauNetz, Sept 27, Berlin
2018 Chigladze, Lika. EXHIBITION OF TWO FAMILIES OF ARCHITECTS FROM GEORGIA AND GERMANY IN TBILISI / Georgia Today, June 28, Tbilisi

2016 Novotny, Maik. TIFLIS: HAUPTSTADT DER HINGUCKER / Der Standard, Apr 17, Vienna
2016 Elmer, Claudia. DAS LAND AM KURA-FLUSS / Kurier, April 16, Vienna

2016 Hollenstein, Roman. EINE WIENER SCHAU FEIERT TBILISSIS ARCHITEKTONISCHEN ZAUBER / Neue Zürcher Zeitung, March 22

2009 Wekua, Ia. THE BLACK-AND-WHITE CITY AND ITS COLORFUL CHARACTERS / 24 Saati, no. 24, Tbilisi 

2007 Khositashvili, Lily. PARAJANOV, SHEEP AND WOMEN AT BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL / Georgia Today, no. 345, Tbilisi

2007 Khositashvili, Lily. LOCATION: GEORGIEN – German Photographers´ Works on Georgia Presented in Berlin / Georgia Today, Dec 7–13, Tbilisi 

2007 Tsimintia, Ana. LOCATION: GEORGIEN – International Photo Exibition in Karvasla / Georgia Today, Dec 7–13, Tbilisi

2004 Gould, Rebecca. ART FAR FROM HOME: The Life of a Georgian Artist in Germany (Interview with Irina Kurtishvili) / Georgia Today, Dec 24–30, no. 235, Tbilisi

2004 Neparidze, Vera. NEW GERMAN FILM / 24 Saati, no. 19, Tbilisi

2003 Khatiasvili, Teo. GERMAN FILM SHOWCASE / Kakadu Magazine, June 4–10, Tbilisi  

2002  Raffelsiefen, Norbert. DEUTLICHE ORIENTIERUNG NACH WESTEN. Georgien öffnet seine Filmindustrie / BLICKPUNKT: FILM, no. 25, Munich

2001  Block, Martin. KAPAZITÄTEN SIND NOCH NICHT AUSGELASTET. Medea Filmproduktion präsentiert Georgien / BLICKPUNKT: FILM, no. 50, Munich

1996  Thies, Reiner. SPAZIEREN IM COMPUTER-PARK / Köln Rundschau, July 12, Cologne

1996 Eradze, Eteri. BIG GAME / Georgian Film, no. 33, Tbilisi

1996 Knull, Christian. MEDIEN. KREATIVES POTENTIAL / markt + wirtschaft, no. 6, Cologne

 

SCENOGRAPHY, DESIGN & MEDIA PRODUCTIONS

2020 BOOKS & BUILDINGS. Home Library Revisited / contribution for online platform / Digital Oases, Tbilisi

2013 COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE FOR THE DESTROYED GERMAN CHURCH / public memorial commissioned by the German Protestant-Lutheran Church, Tbilisi

2012 FROHES SCHAFFEN / docu-fiction / production design / directed and co-produced by Konstantin Faigle / Hupe Film, Cologne & ZDF, Mainz

2010 THE TREE OF DESIRE / exhibition stand at the European Film Market (EFM), 60th Berlinale / design, scenography / Georgian National Film Center / Berlin

2009 JAGD NACH DEM GOLDENEN VLIES / documentary / production management in Georgia / Ilona Grundmann Filmproduktion for Terra X / ZDF, Mainz

2007 MADE IN BERLIN. Morning Programme / graphic design / ARD, Berlin

2005 DIE GROSSE DEPRESSION – MADE IN GERMANY / docu-fiction / production design / directed by Konstantin Faigle / Una Film, Cologne & ZDF, Mainz

2004–2005 SERVICEZEIT. Consumer and Advice Programme / graphic design / WDR, Cologne

2003 SWISS INVESTMENTS IN TRANSCAUCASIA / docu-reportage / production management in Georgia / Crossborder, Basel

2000 BRUCK LICHTSYSTEME / exhibition stand at the International Trade Fair: Light + Building / design, scenography / Bruck Lichtsysteme GmbH, Frankfurt

1999 HERE COMES THE DAWN / feature film / production design / Studio Georgian Film, Tbilisi

1996 RED BALLOON / art & culture magazine for children / concept, design, direction / Academy of Media Arts Cologne / DAAD Foundation Prize

1990 SPIRALE / feature film series / production design / Studio Georgian Film, Tbilisi

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