Transforming Tbilisi: Pirosmani paintings turn Mtkvari River into art display

Two Georgian street artists have put a classical spin on modern, urban art by decorating the bland concrete walls that envelop Mtkvari River in central Tbilisi with well-known paintings by famous Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani.

Local duo Vazha Topuria and Nino Zedginidze teamed up to install large replicas of iconic paintings by Georgia’s most famous self-educated painter Niko Pirosmani (1862–1918) on the walls surrounding the river.

The works were installed on concrete walls of the riverbank near Marjanishvili bridge.. Photo from www.marketer.ge.

The idea was to bring new life and a new look to the monolithic concrete walls that enclose the Mtkvari, which runs through Georgia’s capital. 

The copies of Pirosmani works were created by the two street artists on water-resistant canvas to protect it from damage if the Mtkvari river level rises too high. 

The two artists planned to use copies of works by 20th Century modernist painter Petre Otskheli for the next instalment of their project. Photo from www.marketer.ge.

Their project was supported by Tbilisi City Hall and at the time they said it was only the first instalment in their efforts to decorate the Mtkvari River embankments with a touch of artistic creativity.

In the next stage of the project, Topuria and Zedginidze planned to create and install copies of works by 20th Century modernist painter Petre Otskheli (1907-1937), whose legacy became a part of the Google Cultural Institute website earlier this month.