The Plan and the Map
A Film Chronicle of Infrastructural (Dis)assembly

The Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden is presenting the first comprehensive solo exhibition in Germany of work by Tekla Aslanishvili (born 1988 in Tbilisi), one of the most exciting voices in contemporary video art. In four compelling films, the Berlin-, Tbilisi- and Vienna-based artist explores how infrastructure—from railways to energy grids—becomes a site for practicing both political power and social utopia.

Aslanishvili's works combine precise research with poetic imagery, weaving documentary forms with personal narrative, musical composition, and political analysis. At the centre of the exhibition is her new two-channel film The Mountain Speaks to the Sea (2024–25), which tells of the political, social, and ecological dynamics surrounding a planned submarine energy cable in the Black Sea. It is presented alongside earlier works like Scenes from Trial and Error (2020) examining the failed vision of transforming a Georgian fishing village into a futuristic smart city. Maps, photographs, and research materials expand the cinematic works into a dense parcours spanning two floors of the Kunstverein.

The film Scenes from Trial and Error (2020) is this year's contribution by the Nassauischer Kunstverein to the exground filmfest.

Contributors /

Photographic Works: Nikoloz Tabukashvili, Guram Tikanadze
Research: Alexandra Aroshvili (The Mountain Speaks to the Sea), Evelina Gambino (A State in a State)
Script: Evelina Gambino (A State in a State)
Co-Director: Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze (Stone of Hell)
Composition: Ani Zakareishvili, Nika Pasuri
Exhibition Architecture: Natalia Nebieridze

With gratitude to our supporters: Cultural Office Wiesbaden, Hessian Cultural Foundation, Naspa, Schufa, Graduate School of the Berlin University of the Arts and Henkell Sparkling Wine Cellars. In cooperation with exground filmfest.