Freedom of Art
Art Interrupted: The Password
Salome Sordia from Georgia made a documentary, The Password, comprising the statements and artistic conceptualizations of a performance artist, Andro Dadiani. Dadiani performs with a mask on because a queer identity and lifestyle are not approved by Georgian society and as an artistic statement, saying that donning a mask is more “proactive imagery” than “inevitable necessity”.
Even in modern Georgian society there still is bullying, assault and prejudice towards sexual minorities. It’s not just from strangers and the Orthodox Church but also from family, friends, colleagues, etc. That is why LGBTQ Georgians often hide their identities. The bullying is so harsh that it even leads an individual to self-censor themselves.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government's "ideological interference" ended. Later, part of society, perhaps the majority, began to actively attack novelty and radicalism. This attack, in a way, aroused self-censorship. Changes and progress are also interrupted by the strengthened religious institutions in this country. Today government no longer controls, but society has become more active and has taken up the role of censor. Whenever society intensifies pressure, self-censorship is activated.
This is exactly the environment in which queer artist Andro Dadiani lives and works. Due to such conservative surroundings, Andro Dadiani uses a pseudonym, wears masks and costumes, and alters his voice to conceal his real identity. His works revolve around the struggles of LGBTQI+ people, along with other social, ecological, and political problems. In his works, he tries to highlight these problems using the language of art and tries to open up ways to find alternatives.
In this short documentary, Andro Dadiani criticizes all the religious, political, and other ideologies which are rooted in our society and which don't give a chance for a queer artist to live and create freely. He considers that, unlike the languages of politics and policy, the language of art is a sensitive one that can whittle down the decrees drawn up to control the masses while creating empathy among people.
This short Art Interrupted documentary presents Andro Dadiani’s experiences and views of homophobia and self-censorship and how they have influenced his life and work.
Creative Team
Learn more about the creative team behind this project.
Art Interrupted Project
This film is part of ‘Art Interrupted’ documentary series, produced by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom for East and Southeast Europe, in cooperation with artists from Turkey, Greece, Armenia, and Georgia.
‘Art Interrupted’ aims to explore the difficulties in the field of art, to raise broader awareness of the problems faced by artists, and to develop collective solutions to problems of freedom of expression in East and Southeast Europe.