Georgian Book Days present: LIVE

Reso Kiknadze (saxophone and electronics), Guram Machavariani (guitar) and Anuka Kontridze (tabla) will perform together, whilst the Berlin-based comic artist Mawil draws live on stage. This is free improvisation, rich in all manner of associations, yet free from stylistic or cultural idioms. Whatever happens becomes an event – responded to sooner, later or not at all.

The evening opens with Tbilisi-based musician Aleksandre Kharanauli presenting new interpretations of Georgian folk music.

In Germany, Georgia is primarily known from news reports about protests and the political crisis. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for independent Georgian musicians to work freely in their own country and to realise projects together with colleagues abroad. The Georgian Book Days aim to provide them with a stage in Berlin and create space for collaboration between Georgian and German artists.

The performers

Reso Kiknadze is a renowned composer, improviser and saxophonist. He heads the Music Centre at Ilia State University in Tbilisi and performs regularly around the world in the fields of jazz, contemporary music and free improvisation.

Guram Machavariani is a guitarist from Tbilisi whose work spans jazz, rock and experimental music. He frequently collaborates with renowned international musicians and performs at experimental music festivals around the world.

Anuka Kontridze is a tabla player who trained with tabla masters in India. She lives in Munich and performs internationally with various ensembles, including ‘Metachronic Rashomon’, ‘Thy Veils’ and ‘The Shin’.

Mawil is one of Germany’s best-known comic artists. His award-winning graphic novel *Kinderland*, about growing up in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall, was recently published in Georgian by Matarebeli Comics.

Aleksandre Kharanauli specialises in traditional Georgian folk music. In his live sets, he combines Georgian melodies and lyrics with his own arrangements and modern interpretations of old recordings. He also performs songs based on poems by his father, Besik Kharanauli, one of the most significant poets of modern Georgia, whose work is published in German by Dağyeli Verlag.

About the Georgian Book Days Berlin

The Georgian Book Days Berlin showcase Georgian literature in the original and in German translation. On Sunday, 11 October, the main day of the festival at the Hotel Continental – Art Space in Exile will feature panel discussions on literature, history and politics with Nino Haratischwili, Zaal Andronikashvili and Lasha Bakradze, as well as poetry readings, book launches and a children’s programme. Part of the programme is an animation workshop for children aged 8 and over with the animation filmmaker Ana Chubinidze from Tbilisi. Her short films have been selected for more than 250 festivals and have won 50 awards, including in New York and London. The event is organised by GZA – Georgian Centre Abroad e.V., founded in Berlin in 2024 by Georgians living in Germany.

Event details

• Monday, 12 October 2026
• Doors open at 6.00 pm · Starts at 7.00 pm
• Hotel Continental – Art Space in Exile, Elsenstraße 87, 12435 Berlin
• Free admission, donations welcome