Live on stage, in a film, somewhere in the Caucasus: Klaus Neuburg and Sebastian Pranz followed the Goethe Institute’s call – to Tbilisi. Ten kilometres before the Chechen border, people drive Lada Nivas or ride on horseback. The two designers sit in a tavern and count the minutes. They are about to leave Georgia.  The release party has been scheduled for the next day. If the printer delivers. »I used to be a veggie, « says Klaus Neuburg.  »Until I came to Georgia. Now I will have to start from scratch.« On the screen we see a picture of regional delicacies. Each bite a surprise. It’s like your everyday power cut in Tbilisi, which prevented the printer from producing the magazine on time. He will have to deliver the next day.

Why did the designers embark on this unusual trip to Tbilisi? Blame it on Stefan Wackwitz, who wrote a story about »Reading in strange places«. Tbilisi was one of these. This was followed by a few phone calls, an invitation by Wackwitz, the Director of the Goethe Institute in New York. And finally the two designers travel to Georgia, in order to produce a magazine in a strange place called Tbilisi.

They did not bring a finished concept with them. It was just an idea and a working title: »Moving Tbilisi« that helped Klaus Neuburg and Sebastian Pranz, indeed, to discover the strange place Stefan Wackwitz had talked about. They got used to struggling with the zebra crossings and the completely different Georgian way of organizing street traffic. They enjoyed working in an outdoor office veranda, and the surprising jigsaw puzzle, the job reminded them of. It was an interesting quest for traces, in archives and libraries. With an opportunity to gain collateral insights: the youth in Tbilisi is not really interested in a historicizing retro-perspective. Their references are the Chechnya war, and the political transformation of present times. »In general, they look forward.« (Sebastian Pranz)

One of the most interesting Tbilisi experiences had by Neuburg and Pranz was their encounter with the 33 characters and 28 consonants of the Georgian script,  which reminded them »of minced earthworms«, or Thai letters. The combination of up to seven consonants in a row meant a real challenge to the two designers and their efforts to learn the language. Tiflis aka Tbilisi – an inspiring adventure characterized by team spirit, bonds, and an amazing dedication to »Moving Tbilisi«, the joint project. The two designers learned how to produce a magazine within three weeks – in Germany it takes four months. And that Georgian printers worked through the night fuelled by lots of Vodka so that the magazine could see the light as planned on the day of publication.

Klaus Neuburg and Sebastian Pranz online: www.buerozoo.de