The George Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation hosted the International Interdisciplinary Conference “Pirosmani and Georgian Culture.” The event lasted for three days and included speeches by prominent researchers of the art and life of Pirosmani. It was than followed with remarkable tours of the Pirosmani Museum in Kakheti, and Ninotsminda.The conference coordinated several very interesting events and exhibitions: Pirosmani in Details, a performance about the artist based on details from his paintings - Pirosmani’s Tbilisi; We Paint Pirosmani; and Pirosmani on the Scene and Screen.
The conference was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Niko Pirosmanashvili. It was under the aegis of UNESCO, with the support from Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, and other cultural organizations participated. The aim of the conference was to unite research of Pirosmani’s life and art, and to enrich the interdisciplinary understanding of his artistic achievement.
Giorgi Papashili, the organizer of the conference, told Georgian Journal: “Nearly every researcher who has studied this subject presented results of their studies to the society. From a scientific point of view many themes were fully discussed. I can’t say anything about the regularity of the conference, but many studies in this field and other projects will continue.”
Scientists and researchers who offered their work to the society were: Dimitri Tumanishvili, Mariam Didebulidze, Giorgi Papashvili, Irina Abesadze, Gaston Buachidze, Erast Kuznetsov, Ketevan Kintsurashvili, Lela Piralishvili, Giorgi Khoshtaria, Neli Kobiashvili, and Ketevan Charkhalashvili.
Charkhalashvili, President of the Society For Pirosmani Heritage Protection, commented: “It was a very interesting and useful conference that made us, people who work for Pirosmani and feel the energy of this great artist, feel united and share with each other our experience and information. Our society offered to the conference the project ‘Quest for the Pirosmani Grave and its Examination’ that aims to find the Pirosmani’s last haven on Earth. We all know that Pirosmani’s grave is lost. We made all the arrangements, and are ready to begin the project and to research the territory. Soon society may witness one of its greatest events, if we can find the grave of one of the greatest artists of the world, who belongs to Georgia. Right now we are stumbling over some issues related to permission to dig up ground and look for the grave, but we hope that soon this problem will be solved, since nearly all state and cultural institutions and organizations are involved.”
Participants in the conference visited the Pirosmani Museum in his native village in Kakheti, Mirzaani, where there is an exhibition of his work and the house built by the painter for his sister.
