შუასკნელი / Shuaskneli

MAKZIA, a Georgian queer cultural and political initiative, invites people into space called შუასკნელი / Shuaskneli. An interactive installation built around the idea of an in-between space, from Georgian mythology, შუასკნელი / Shuaskneli becomes a space between inner cosmos and outer worlds, it is identity which fights with reality and creates a place to pause, reflect, connect and imagine.

The first installation takes the form of a hut - inspired by the shelters we built as kids from blankets, pillows and whatever we could find. Temporary worlds inside the existing one, where we made our own rules and created a feeling of safety. Here, this childhood gesture becomes political. The outside carries the visual language of Georgian resistance: banners, posters and political messages created for MAKZIA festival, reflecting social and political struggles in Georgia and beyond. Inside, the atmosphere is intimate, soft and calm, a place to sit, lie down, be alone or together. A sound piece enters from outside, reminding us that safety is temporary and the outside world is never completely absent.

The second installation brings us around a round table ritual — At its centre, mirrors invite us to look at ourselves not in isolation, but in relation to others and to the world around us, at the same time it asks questions. Through small rituals of writing, cutting, tying, sharing, letting go and transforming, individual reflection becomes a collective act.

Together, the two installations form შუასკნელი / Shuaskneli: a temporary space between worlds, somewhere to retreat and somewhere to encounter each other, to question what surrounds us and what we carry within ourselves, and to search for forms of safety, solidarity and transformation.