Dancing On The Cutting Edge
When we were creating the concept for GEM Fest, we wanted to embellish it with as many different meanings and connotations as possible, just as the rather long-winded full title of the Georgian Electronic Music Festival contains the word ‘gem’ in its name: a precious stone, hidden away in an unsuspecting cut of rock. Or, as in our case, bursting out of the rock. This burst of power and display of a beautiful and immensely valuable core lies at the heart of our festival.
GEM Fest was conceived as an international, multi-platform festival to celebrate the most illustrious, the brightest, and the best in youth culture, dance music and stagecraft today. The supernovas and bright young stars of the global electronic scene, the most dazzling developments in modern art, and the most passionate trailblazers and trendsetters; choreographers, art directors, designers, photographers, cinematographers, DJs, video artists and even athletes—we love anything that makes you turn your head and say, ‘Brilliant!’. We want our festival to bring together not only the most lustrous and renowned pearls from all over the world, but also a handful of uncut diamonds; we want to provide a platform for the realisation of unbridled artistic potential and help to uncover the priceless gem that is hidden in every artistic talent. We want to bring you all together in one place—on the cutting edge—and make you dance.
What we are doing can be summed up in just one phrase: ‘It’s an absolute gem!’ We want these to be the words which greet you as you cross the Inguri River, dazzled by the view over all Anaklia. We hope that these will be the words you use to describe what you have seen, heard and felt here.
We would also like to say a few words about the organizing committee. For GEM Fest to bring together the most striking and outstanding talent, we needed our own team to be no less remarkable. As a result, we have formed a professional international team, together boasting experience on numerous major events of the likes of Kazantip Republic and Exit Festival. We have consolidated efforts and resources to put on what will be Georgia’s biggest and most iconic festival. In fact, we’re in no way descending into bombastic exaggeration when we say that it’s an event of national importance: the festival has been put together in collaboration with the Georgian Government and the former Head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
There has to be a remark: the entire ‘stone’ theme appeared not by itself, but because the client had already registered the company named Epic Stone and was firmly intended to give this name to the prospective festival. We’d managed to talk them off this potential epic fail not really good idea, having offered the gem stone concept instead.
The prototype (hiddenite gem stone) was bought on ebay for $10
Searching for a perfect shape
We turned the stone vertically giving it the heart shape and highlighted the bursting element
Flags
The series of ID-videos teaser designed to present the brand ID, gradually reveal the core idea and promote a brand-new festival on social networks.
Plastic personal multi passes
Web site gem-fest.com. Web design, html coding, programming, tech support, administrating, copywriting and content management. (*the client redesigned it later and now it looks different)
Artist and brand ID posters
Billboards
Booklet
Stickers
Collection of clothes created by the fashion label Mantis Religiosa
Branding at the venue
Entrance Group
Tunnel of Emotions
Rubik’s Cube. The Main Stage
Dubfire Hybrid Live
WhoMadeWho Live
Credits:
Bojan Bošković — sound, light, stage constructions, marketing strategy, consulting.
Emil Berar — sound, light, video, technical conduct of the main stage.
Mladen Hrvanović — spatial architecture, design of the main stage, installations, the venue design.
Masha Kuznetsova, Tanja Sharonova aka Freak Fabrique — installations, spatial architecture.
Daria Boychenko, Ekaterina Boychenko aka DIII — dance support, performances.
Oleksandr Demianenko — photo, video directing, camera, cut, sound, GEM movie fest curator.
Mara Fauque — design, web-design, visual solutions, production management, content moderating, art-directing.
Natasha Kto Nado — naming, branding, marketing & PR, copywriting, 1st AD, creative directing.
Mitya Neft and Oleg Pletnev aka Mantis Religiosa — fashion design, the team’s clothes.
Vadim Epstein — VJ-ing, GEM video-art festival curating.
Andrew Goshva — regional marketing and promotion.
Tato Kharchilava, Biko Birbichadze — booking.
Boris Šašić, Andrew Kozelkov — the main stage construction.
Maxim Bobrov — programming and system administrating.
Sandro Gabilaia and JWT Metro — video equipment and production.
Peter Shvets-Shevchenko — the venue manager.
Lasha Tsurtsumia — executive manager.
Ilya Vinokurov, Andrew Reva — camera.
Katerina Kozelkova, Louisa Chalatashvili — photo.
Alexander Bagrationi-Davidoff — local PR, photo.
ZEVS Design & Printing House — print production.
Tamara Ninidze — sails, ticket office, logistic.
Igor Chopenko — 3D design.
