Starship, from the 12th Dimension Onwards
Goethe-Institut Georgien, presents a retrospective of Starship Magazine at Kona Books, Tbilisi. The art magazine Starship was founded in Berlin in 1998 and is currently published by an editorial team consisting of Ariane Mueller, Henrik Olesen, Nikola Dietrich, and Martin Ebner. Since its inception, it has published 20 issues, alongside a number of books.
Kona Books, Tbilisi
1 October, 7:00–10:00 pm
10 Giorgi Mazniashvili Street
Starship has always seen itself as a medium for initiating discourse, highlighting and promoting artistic positions, and above all, addressing the often core concerns of artists, whether in the form of utopian social models and/or political questions surrounding topics such as (sexual) identity, urban use and solidarity, as well as the entire field of the public sphere and the material aspects of art-making. Starship has long been a producer of innovative exhibition formats that incorporate language, text, and time-based media, but above all, always showcase the situatedness of the artists themselves.
Photos: Gigory Sokolinsky
The exhibition at Kona Books focuses on the magazine from issue #12 onwards. This period marks the involvement of Dan Solbach, co-founder of Kona Books, as the magazine’s graphic designer. The retrospective brings together this period of the magazine and will be accompanied by a conversation with Ariane Mueller and Martin Ebner, introducing the history and development of Starship, its independent publishing practice and its forthcoming issue.
Photos: Sandro Suberalidze
Ariane Mueller is a visual artist, publisher, writer, and urban development expert. She lives in Berlin and Vienna. Her international art career includes solo exhibitions at the Secession Vienna and Kunstverein Nuremberg. She also curated institutional shows like the 6th Werkleitz Biennial, or Dispossession, a show discussing the fascist past of the oldest and biggest artist organisation Künstlerhaus, Vienna. Her novel Handbuch für die Reise durch Afrika, about her work as a political advisor on housing for the Austrian government, was published by the Museum of Contemporary Art Basel.
Martin Ebner lives in Berlin and Austria. His practice includes video, film, spatial installations, photography, and sound, alongside the publication of magazines and curating international screening programs. His art career includes exhibitions and screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), ICA London, CAC Vilnius, and Kunstverein Hamburg. He also co-founded the exhibition and screening project Poor Man’s Expression, exploring the intersections of technology, experimental film and conceptual art, and has collaborated with institutions like Arsenal, Berlin and Artists Space, New York.
Starship was founded in Berlin in 1998 as an independent art magazine and collaborative exhibition platform. Currently run by Nikola Dietrich, Martin Ebner, Ariane Mueller, and Henrik Olesen, it has published 20 issues alongside numerous books. The project operates at the intersection of text, poetry, and visual art, functioning as a flexible tool to test the latency of contemporary art-making.
Editors: Nikola Dietrich, Martin Ebner, Ariane Mueller, Henrik Olesen
Graphic design: Dan Solbach (from Starship 12)
Founding editors: Hans-Christian Dany, Martin Ebner, Ariane Mueller, Gunter Reski
Guest editors: Stephanie Fezer (5–7), Vera Tollmann (7), Mihaela Chiriac (19), Gerry Bibby (16–19)
Display at Kona Books curated by Nina Akhvlediani, in collaboration with Martin Ebner, Ariane Mueller and Aleksi Soselia.
Kona Books is a Tbilisi-based publishing house and bookstore focusing on contemporary visual and interdisciplinary projects. Dedicated to publishing bilingual editions of Georgian and international artists in dialogue with writers, poets, and other practitioners situated in Georgia or with a shared connection in their practice, producing new geographical and physical encounters as well as creating a conversation within each publication. The bookstore offers a selection of printed matter from independent international press, artists‘ books, monographs, poetry editions, journals, and zines. It also functions as a space for book launches, readings, screenings, and exhibitions.
Nina Akhvlediani is an independent curator and the co-founder of Kona Books, a Tbilisi-based publishing house and bookstore. She is the founder of Dineba, an independent archival practice dedicated to the preservation of marginalized and at-risk archival materials. In her recent projects, she has developed designs for durational exhibition models and approaches the archive as a site of poetic and political inquiry.
Heartfelt thank you to Dan Solbach, CCA – Center of Contemporary Art – Tbilisi and Aleksi Soselia for sharing their copies of the magazines with us and for supporting this endeavour. Copies of Starship magazine will remain permanently in the libraries of Kona Books and CCA – Center of Contemporary Art – Tbilisi, currently housed at Goethe-Institut Georgien and Kurorti, Tbilisi.
The event is supported by Goethe-Institut Georgien.
