Giorgi Koberidze’s residency in Innsbruck

The Slash Georgian artist Giorgi Koberidze was in  Innsbruck (District Wilten – St. Bartlmä Area), Austria, last September for his artistic residency. His work leaded to the sound and artistic creation of Murmur – Immersing in the (Silent) Voices of Transition.
Discover here some images and reporting of his time there.

Giorgi Koberidze, a Georgian composer and sound artist, spent three weeks in residence at openspace.innsbruck as part of the Slash Transition EU Project. His new work, Murmur, delves into the delicate balance between urban transformation and the often-overlooked elements that are displaced or lost in this process. Through a deeply intimate sound and object installation, Murmur embodies the analysis of the territory and offers a rare moment of reflection amidst the relentless pace of city life, allowing the audience to pause and listen.

At the core of Murmur are four distinct sonic materials in the former industrial area St. Bartlmä; the melodies of musicians; the accidental shattering of glass; and the resonant chimes of a bell. Each sound represents an aspect of life under threat during times of transition—nature, human imperfection, art, and tradition. These disparate elements are woven together in a continuous, ambient composition, creating a soundscape that gives voice to the silenced, the forgotten, and the overlooked.

The bell—an enduring symbol of protection, especially in Georgian culture—frames the installation, grounding it in both personal and collective histories. Koberidze’s work reflects on the fragility and resilience of what we often fail to notice, inviting a deeper engagement with the subtle beauty of change using georgian traditional microtonal tuning system, which incorporates interaction.

The St. Bartlmä area, currently undergoing urban transformation, stands as a vibrant site of creation, encounter, and cultural exchange. What were once empty rooms and corridors have been repurposed into spaces of artistic production and collaboration. This project is an attempt to contribute to this evolution, using sound as a medium of analysis, collaboration, connection, and activation—a call to engage with the present in order to reach for the future. 

Throughout this residency, Koberidze’s collaboration with local artists, experts, and community members underscored the transformative power of collective effort in creating meaningful, impactful artistic work.

Local Collaborations:
Positive Futures Festival, Klangspuren Festival, St. Bartlmä Community, Colegnio Records, Grassmayer Bell Foundry Innsbruck, Cera LAB, Workstation, and more.

Participating Artists in the Artistic Process:
Nikolina Zunec, Ivona Aya, SNKT BRTLM Community, Patrizia Gföller, Belinda Miggitsch, Saw Win Maw, Antonia Neussl, and others

Photos:
Final Presentation (photos 1&4): Daniel Jarosch
Residency Process (photo 2&3): openspace.innsbruck team

 Video:
Ivan Okello