Hand-painted pianos entertain seaside Batumi (VIDEO)

It’s not often permission is given to spray paint a piano or douse it in paint but this week several pianos underwent a makeover to turn them into vibrant pieces of instrumental art.

Music wafted along the streets of Georgia’s seaside resort town Batumi on June 13 as five artists used their creative genius to hand-paint pianos in unique designs before the public were encouraged to let their fingers play the black and white keys and take photos alongside the instruments.

See the promotional video for the street piano activity:

Ten locations were selected in the old Batumi Boulevard for the street piano project, which will be on display for the two-month duration of Heat Batumi.

One of the street piano event’s organisers Beko Lezhava noted similar events were popular worldwide, especially in seaside resorts. "The project is aimed to draw in tourists and entertain the public,” Lezhava said.

Social network hashtag #heatbatumi has been selected for the event-related updates while photos of the street piano activity can be found on the project’s Facebook page.

A project artist paints one of the pianos. Photo by Heat Batumi Facebook page.

The event was part of the 2015 Heat Batumi summer campaign, organised by Batumi City Hall and the local City Council with participation of other state institutions.

From now until mid-September, Heat Batumi will oversee more than 200 activities, festivals and entertainment in the coastal resort town. The local Government will spend 3.4 million GEL on the campaign however a portion of it is being sponsored by private donors. The project calendar is available here.