Hundreds talk live with subjects of documentary exhibition 6,000 miles away in the South Caucasus
LiveZEKE participants talking with Aghajanyan family in Nagorno-Karabakh.
SDN presented LiveZEKE last week to thousands who attended the Photoville festival in Brooklyn, NY. For the first time in documentary history, gallery viewers were able to talk live with the subjects of an exhibition. In our container at Photoville, we presented
The Forgotten Caucasus exhibition with photos by Ara Oshagan, Daro Sulakauri, and Jan Zychlinski. For five days, viewers of this exhibit were able to speak through a live video conferencing channel directly with the subjects from The Republic of Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh, eight time zones away. View photos and videos below of the interactions.
Gallery attendee talking with Aghajanyan family in Nagorno-Karabakh via live video conferencing. The family was one of the subjects of photographer Ara Oshagan's documentary project on the contested region where his family and ancestors are from.
Gallery attendee talks live to Shota and Kandit Gurchiani, refugees from the Georgia/Abkhazia war, now living high in the Georgian Svaneti Mountains. A photo of Shota and Kandit by Jan Zychlinski is on the gallery wall in front of the attendee.
Leila, featured on the cover of the spring 2016 issue of ZEKE magazine, talks with us live from Zagdudi, a small village near the border of Georgia and Abkhazia. Photographer Daro Sulakauri is on right. We asked Leila about meeting her boyfriend online, and at 14, running away with him to get married. Photo by Daro Sulakauri (Click image to play video)
The highlight of LiveZEKE is a gallery visitor singing live jazz while Edik Aghajanyan plays the piano 6,000 miles away in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Click image to play video.)
Shota and Kandit Gurchiani, refugees from the Georgia/Abkhazia war, are now living high in the Georgian Svaneti Mountains. They talked with us about their life as internally displaced persons for more than 20 years. Inset photo of Shota and Kandit by Jan Zychlinski is on the gallery wall. (Click image to play video)
Emily Pederson talks about her experiences with LiveZEKE at Photoville after LiveZEKEing with the Aghajanyan family 6,000 miles away in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Click image to play video.)
Education Day at Photoville. SDN volunteer Shanee Epstein talks to New York City public school students about what is subjective and objective in a photograph, using examples from The Forgotten Caucasus exhibit.
LiveZEKE was presented at Photoville directly beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, September 22-25.
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Participants called LiveZEKE "brilliant," "never been done before," "very cool."
LiveZEKE cost us nearly $8,000 to produce including costs of container, AV, internet in New York and Georgia, travel, and shipping. Your support is greatly appreciated.
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Thank you to LiveZEKE sponsors!
Archival Methods; Barbara Ayotte; Julien Ayotte; Robert Ayotte; Michael Busse; Caterina Clerici; Susi Eggenberger; Carla Fiorina; Annika Haas; Mary Ellen Keough; Susan Kirkcaldy; Rusty Leffel; Peter Perez; Carol Storey; Paula Tognerelli; Barbara Trachtenberg; Robert Winston; Zofeen Khan; Sara Wolozin; 555 Gallery, Susan and Ed Nalband
Thank you to everyone who helped with LiveZEKE! Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped to produce LiveZEKE
Photographers: Ara Oshagan, Daro Sulakauri, Jan Zychlinski
Documentary Subjects: Leila and family from Zagdudi, Georgia; Aghajanyan family from Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh; Shota and Kandit from Gurchiani, Esteri, Georgia.
Logistical and translation support in Georgia: Nikolaz Berulava, Beka
Volunteers at Photoville:Barbara Ayotte, Caterina Clerici, Shanee Epstein, Dorothy Stigi, Kelly Kollias Photoville Staff: Sam Barzilay, Jasmin Chang, Aislinn Curry, Laura Roumanos, Sarah
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Our upcoming fall issue will feature Cuba, the Rohingya, Vinny & David: Life & Incarceration of a Family, book reviews, and a feature on the future of the still image.
