Petre Otskheli’s Flying Painter in lights in Tbilisi, Georgia

To commemorate Georgian artist, Petre Otskheli’s 110^th anniversary, the TBC Bank in Tbilisi initiated Project 12 at the end of 2017. The project aims to bring the unique artworks of the progressive Georgian painter to life in an unusual way – one of the ways is to put a replica of his Flying Painter artwork in lights on the main street in Tbilisi.

The project gathered 12 Georgian artists, musicians, graphic designers and people with different backgrounds. Various artworks, installations and projects created on Petre Otskheli’s motives were performed using modern techniques and tools such as digital art, neon lightning, video art, animation, 3D art, sculptural installation and electronic music. The participating artists of the project designed individual artworks and presented Petre’s world of art to the public in new forms.

Petre Otskheli, born in Kutaisi, Georgia, was renowned for his contribution to the theatrical arts in the 1920s, and was one of the most distinguished Georgian avant-garde painters of his time. He was not only a theatre artist who created sketches and drawings for stage productions, but a pioneer painter who paved the way in Georgian modernism.

“We launched Project 12 last year in partnership with VISA,” Nina Akhvlediani, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at TBC Bank, told GEORGIA TODAY. “The platform was established with the purpose of supporting and promoting art in the country … Our main aim is to popularize emerging Georgian artists and their works among the wider public.”

Mariam Sasha said that the project did not limit participants, so they were completely free to express themselves. “I joined the project as a digital artist and for my artwork I used Otskheli’s famous painting The Flying Painter,” she said.

Petre Otskheli was not recognized in his life time, but became the first Georgian artist to feature in the Google Cultural Institute digital gallery, the biggest virtual association in the world incorporating the artworks of world famous artists. “Georgian Modernist set and costume designer, who revolutionized Georgian theatre in the 20th century was one of the most outstanding Georgian avant-garde artists of his time,” reads the description in the Google Cultural Institute.

In the era of superheroes, Petre Otskheli (1907-1937) has become a superstar.

His painting, Flying Painter (1937) was created in the last year of his young life. At the age of 30, he was shot and killed, having been put to death during Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, along with his colleague Sergo Amaghlobeli.

The neon lighting of Petre Otskheli's Flying Painter can be seen on the wall near Metro Rustaveli.

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, foreign aid audits and evaluations, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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