Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

MODERNISM IN GEORGIA
Nana Kipiani
G. Chubinashvili National Center of Georgian Art History and Monuments Protection.Georgia
“Poetically Abides a Man”
Early 20 th century Modernism in Georgian fine arts and literature, which is also referred to as “Tbilisian
Modernism,” is the most liberal in its essence and yet, the most tragic, of all trends in modern and recent
history of Georgian culture. The goal of the paper is to address the national identity of Tbilisian Modernism,
which can be traced in the visual and verbal texts of this movement and in the presence of liberal cultural
and artistic perception.
The problem of identity is relevant, considering the tragic fate of Georgian Modernism. With only a
two-decade existence (from 1910 to the late 1920s), it failed to establish even a small niche of its own in the
realm of international/western Modernism. This is mainly due to the political and cultural circumstances:
Following Sovietization in the 1930s, modernist art, including even Russian revolutionary avant-garde art,
suffered repression. Along with that, after the 1921 annexation, the culture of Georgia became marginal as
a result of severe restrictions on art and a sweeping movement towards a common cultural and aesthetic
space.
The ban of Modernism, which occurred simultaneously with the marginalization of national cultures
by the Soviet culture policy, has totally erased from memory artistic life of the early 20 th century Georgia.
It is only now that scholars have begun to assess the historical and artistic importance of this phenomenon
and, moreover, started to trace, describe and register its factual material. One obstacle in interpreting the
works of modernist artists is their improper affiliation to various movements: the work of the modernist
artists of the 1910-20s, who had escaped the Soviet repressions, were, for obvious reasons, considered as
a product of certain infatuation and their “repressed” art, created in the Soviet period, was presented as an
evolutionary and transitional phenomenon, which was thus placed within the borders of Socialist Realism.
The situation has changed, but nevertheless, the two settings, that of Modernism and Socialism/Communism,
have been demarcated neither conceptually nor contextually. The latter, however, is essential for the
rehabilitation of Tbilisian Modernism and for the definition of its artistic and historical significance on one
hand, and for the dismantling of the still surviving cultural and artistic hierarchy established by the Soviet
system on the other.
This paper raises another problem in the context of identity, namely the category of space, and will
respond the following related questions: which space is valuable for Tbilisian Modernism and what value
does it have in the modernist context of the correlation between time and space? The specific character of
the interpretation reflects a peculiarity of Tbilisian Modernism. The speech also makes use of comparative
analysis with i) contemporary western and Russian material and ii) medieval Georgian architecture and
mural painting. Samples of medieval European as well Byzantine architecture and painting will be used
Anna Shanshiashivili
Georgian Arts and Culture Centre.I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Georgia
The Painting of Niko Pirosmani in the Context of Late 19 th -Early 20 th c. European Art
The paintings of Niko Pirosmani, some of the most significant representations of Georgian fine art,
unveil traits, which link him to different artistic movements of late 19 th - early 20 th century European art.
Known as a self-taught artist, Pirosmani is often interpreted as a “Naive” or “Primitive” painter; however,
the majority of scholars acknowledge a particular depth and comprehensiveness that distinguish Georgian
painter from other naives. The fact that Pirosmani independently and intuitionally came to the key principals
of modern painting, elaborated by different painting schools and artistic movements in contemporane-
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