Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

with Russian artists who had emigrated to an independent Georgia. Expressionist and constructivist works
by I. Gamrekeli, B. Gordesiani, K. Zdanevich and E. Lalaeva were featured in Georgian book and magazines
and on leafs of paper. The works of some graphic artists (L. Grigolia) reflect the style of a number of
popular European artists (F. Vallaton and F. Masereel). The graphical paper leafs by the stage designer Petre
Otskheli are reminiscent of A. Beardsley, L. Baxt and G. Klimt. The ideological suppression in the 1930s
had a negative impact on Georgian graphic art: numerous graphic artists, including K. Kwees, K. Gritsai, I.
Stennberg, had to quit, while P. Otskheli was executed.
In the period during and after the 1930s, the graphic artists L. Gudiashvili and S. Gabashvili proceeded
with their attempts to synthesize European and oriental art with Georgian art in their illustrations and
easel graphics. Slightly different was the style in which S. Kobuladze worked; he emphasized the interpretation
of Renaissance art, though in his final years the artist took interest in Picasso’s Neo-Greek style.
Continuing the spirit of the 1920-30s, following generations of the best Georgian graphic artists have
opted to engage in a cultural dialogue and to achieve inclusion of national art into processes unfolding on
the international artistic arena.
Ketevan Shavgulidze
Tbilisi State Academy of Art. Georgia
The Principle of Montage in Georgian Stage Design (1920s)
The works of innovative stage producers and designers during the 1920s was marked by the use of the
principles of montage and by specific cinematographic techniques. On the Russian stage, a screen was included
into the common system of settings by V. Meyerhold, which became an effective means of artistic
propaganda. Avant-garde drama experiments performed by E. Piscator and Dadaist artists in the field of
projective decoration in Germany was an important novelty for the international theatrical world.
In the late 1920s, Georgian stage designers, in their search for new principles of space organization,
took interest in innovative cinematographic techniques. The first attempt made in this regard was D. Kakabadze’s
stage design for the play Hoppla, We’re Alive (the first performance held at the Kutaisi-Batumi
State Drama Theatre, which was founded by K. Marjanishvili in 1928). This was followed by interesting
stage sets created by E. Akhvlediani for How?, An Old Enthusiast, Khatije. The decorative system of these
performances included specific cinematographic facilities, such as a screen and projective equipment. Specially
made film shots were shown on the screen to develop and continue stage acts. The action “started” by
an actor in the film shot would continue by the same actor on the stage and the other way round. Harmoniously
merging with the overall structure of the drama performance, the shots were an effective means of
overcoming problems resulting from frequent changing of acts.
The performances staged by V. Meyerhold and E. Piscator - The Earth Upside Down (stage designer L.
Popova), Giving Europe (I. Shlepyanov), Russian Day, Despite Everything (D. Hatfield), Raging Current
(E. Zur), and Hoppla, We’re Alive (T. Muller), featured a screen projecting propaganda slogans, political
posters, appeals, subtitles, documental shots and short films. To highlight the progressive nature of the revolutionary
movement and to generalize the idea of the play, specific facts described were, through the use of
montage technique, displayed against the background of the events of universal relevance.
Different was the conceptual function of projections used in the performances under K. Marjanishvili
and by D. Kakabadze and E. Akhvlediani’s direction. The emphasis on the agitation and propaganda of
political ideas was not a self-goal. Instead of demonstrating abstract visual material, the projected shots
were linked to the facts described and served to overcome spatial problems. They were an expressive and
effective means of underlining the important events in the plot of the play.
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MODERNISM IN GEORGIA