TBILISI Mural Art Festival, Georgia 2022

TBILISI Mural Fest has just wrapped up its fourth street art festival in the beautiful capital of Georgia. The festival began in 2019 and was founded by Besik Maziashvili with the support of Tbilisi and Berlin City Halls. The Tbilisi mural festival has more than forty murals addressing social, environmental and other relevant issues, and the artists are free to decide their theme.

This year’s artist line-up welcomed Fintan Magee, VESOD , Sasha Korban, David Machavariani, Luis Gomez de Teran, ARTEZ, KERA, Mohamed l’Ghacham and Tina Chertova, who painted their murals in different locations of the city.

“It was impossible to ignore the topic of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, especially since the Georgian people know just how it feels to be invaded by Russia. This is why he decided to focus on Ukrainian artists and give them a chance to express their feelings through their art. The well-known Ukrainian artist, Sasha Korban, who was an honourable artist this year, painted a portrait of a Ukrainian woman in traditional clothing right in front of the Embassy of Russia. Despite the terror of the war, the mural itself portrays the hope and strength of the Ukrainian people. ” Besik Maziashvili, the founder of the festival.

Fintan Magee painted one of the most challenging walls he has ever painted. Using hundreds of litres of paint and 21 solid days of painting!

“When I came to Georgia, I took photos of people. This is a portrait of a woman, behind a mirror with her own child, holding a Georgian historical artifact. This shows the importance of culture and transmission from generation to generation. I painted with the effect of tilted glass, I wanted the person in the painting to be a universal person, because it can be anyone, that’s why it remains a little abstract. This wall was a great challenge for me. I have never done such a complex, detailed wall of this size before.” Fintan Magee

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Italian muralist Vesod mural is titled “M3D3A”, dedicated to the story of Medea and Jason, and you can view it in the historical part of the Sololaki district.

“The painting is inspired by the figure of Medea and her myth which is said to be set in Georgia. The scene portrays the moment in which she prepares the potion for Jason. Compared to the painting by John William Waterhouse from which she draws inspiration is Medea, placed in a predominant position, the main figure, who, in an almost maternal way, provides the Greek hero with the opportunity to realize his ambition.” VESOD

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Ukrainian artist Sasha Korban gathered strength during difficult times and created a significant and powerful piece of art.

“I portrayed a Ukrainian woman in a traditional embroidered shirt holding a huge bouquet of wildflowers with ears of wheat. She is proud and full of light. She looks straight ahead, with a barely noticeable smile, to all the obstacles and fears in her eyes. It symbolizes our strength, inner energy, freedom and will. Despite the terrible and cruel war, we, as a nation, will endure, become even stronger, and we will live!” Sasha Korban

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David Machavariani dedicated a mural to the famous medieval poet Shota Rustaveli. The focus is on king Rostevan and his female heir Tinatin, echoing the gender equality theme. Two Georgian artists have worked on this mural. The sketch was created by Machavariani, who has been working on the poem “The Night in the Panter’s skin” for years and later transferred to the wall by Irakli Kadeishvili.

For the first time, in the festival’s framework, Luis Gomez de Teran created an installation on an abandoned water tank titled “Unauthorized installation in an abandoned spaceship – Tbilisi, Georgia – Autumn 3022”

“What’s left of my atoms
how much of me survived,
since the day I collided
to this long sleepless night

Take me away from this oxygen
like water for iron, I slowly realised,
one more breath, one more drop
a red soul never dries.

Bring me back to my planet
where this sun doesn’t shine.
On your wrecked silver spaceship,
can you still make it fly?

Bring me back to my star
gone since a thousand years.
You keep watching a light
that has long disappeared.” Gomez

Gomez also painted a mural for the festival.

Artez painted a mural about growth.

“On this wall, I have decided to play with repetition and scale in order to create a narrative about growth. Taking care of things together is important as it will strengthen the bonds with people that are close to us. Trust the seeds you are planting, and you will grow inside out!” Artez

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Berlin artist KERA can be found at Politkovskaya Street 29 supported by the Georgian artist Irakli Kadeishvili (kade90).

Mohamed l’Ghacham titled his mural Ilia’s room. It depicts the living room of the famous Georgian thinker and author Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907), who spearheaded the revival of the Georgian national movement in the second half of the 19th century. He is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Georgia.

Georgian artist Tina Chertovata painted on Bakhtrioni Street with traditional Georgian elements.

“The inspiration for this mural came from Georgian traditional ornaments.I made a mix of old Georgian ornaments from books and composed a Georgian Blue Tablecloth that I spread on the wall. My goal was to show traditional ornaments in a modern art shape and space. Bonus: there is a hidden story of a woman entrepreneur – a writer, a doctor, an agronomist, and a winemaker.” Tina Chertova

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The Tbilisi Mural Fest continues to grow and develop, you can find Large-scale murals in the open-air gallery by international artists such as Innerfields, Case Maclaim, Artez, INO, and Georgian artists like Dante, Giorgi Maskharashvili, V45, Irakli Kadeishvili, Zviad Esartia, Monkeybird, Faith47, JDL (Holland), Aphe and NOAH, MAZZA, 1010 ​, KADE 90 and David Samkharadze.

Photo Credit  tikukob for TBILISI Mural Fest

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