Batumi’s iconic Ali and Nino statue damaged during relocation

One part of the famous statues of Ali and Nino, iconic to Georgia’s Black Sea coastal town Batumi, has been damaged during dismantling as experts attempted to relocate the intertwining statues to a new location.

The Ali and Nino statues are one of the main attractions of the Batumi Boulevard but were forced to be relocated due to coastal erosion under the monument’s foundations.

As experts from Arnabi 21 relocation company attempted to move the structure yesterday, the Nino statue fell. Company representatives and local authorities stressed the damage was "insignificant” and would be fixed in the coming days before being erected at a new location 50 metres from its previous home.

Plans stated the structure will be fully operational in its new location by September 5.

Head of the Batumi Boulevard Administration Giorgi Zirakishvili said it was necessary to move the statue because of coastal erosion that was compromising the monument’s foundations.

He said a tender was announced on July 5 to relocate the statue and 234,975 GEL from the local municipality budget had been allocated to the project.

If any damage [was] caused during dismantling, the tender-winning company Arnabi 21 would be responsible for material expenses,” said Zirakishvili, adding the creator of the monument had earlier given her approval to relocate the statues, according to Georgian legislation.

Arnabi 21 representative Mamuka Zhgenti said the Nino portion of the monument sustained slight damage during the dismantling process. He said the Nino figurine was being lifted by crane and lowered when it fell onto a concrete wall, causing damage to the figurine’s wings. The damage was minor and would be fixed in several hours, he stressed. 

The Ali portion of the statue was dismantled after the Nino portion was removed. Photo by Batumi Boulevard.

Meanwhile the country’s main opposition party United National Movement (UNM) accused the current Government of committing "barbarian acts” and "fighting against modernity” by moving the iconic statue. 

UNM claimed the monument had been purposely crashed and destroyed. 

Conversely, statue creator Tamar Kvesitadze spoke to Rustavi 2 TV and said she had not been informed about relocation of the statue and she had no information about the tender.

However today, Batumi Boulevard Administration released the consent document signed by Kvesitadze on March 27, 2015. 

In the letter Kvesitadze responded to the Batumi Boulevard Administration and agreed safety measures should take place and consented to move the statue slight further away from the shore.

The monument was erected in Batumi in 2011. The concept of the statue was based on the novel Ali and Nino by Kurban Said, an author with a pseudonym whose real identity is disputed. 

The seven tonne statues start their motion at 7pm each evening and are lit by coloured lighting. Photo by betravel.ge.

The novel is about a romance between a Muslim Azerbaijani boy and a Christian Georgian girl in Baku in between 1918 and 1920.