Sakartvelo, as any other nation in the world, is proud of its heritage and art because they define Georgia’s cultural identity, linking it to its past and, without any exaggeration, providing a sturdy foundation for the country’s future. Our collective memory has the potential of strengthening cohesion between our progeny and fostering mutual respect between the Georgians, preserving all our cultural assets, especially the most distinguished pieces of art, for subsequent generations to enjoy.
The Ministry of Culture of Georgia, as a bedrock of national culture and headed by its new minister Tinatin Rukhadze, is doing its utmost to bring our cultural heritage to the point where the nation’s unique identity is defined, influencing politics, society, and worldview to the benefit of the Georgian people.
Last week, in one of the buildings of the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, a truly heartening event took place: Dimitri Bukiya, the son of the People’s Artist of Georgia Vladimir (Vova) Bukiya, solemnly presented for permanent preserve three wonderful paintings by his father to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts.
Vladimir Bukiya graduated from the Georgian Academy of Fine Art in 1976. Since then, over the course of decades, he has been steeped in a talented artist’s creative work and academic life, having given to the world myriad valuable pieces of art. Currently, this well-known Georgian painter is living in New York, USA, successfully continuing with his creative endeavor, trying to see the world with the eye of an artist who is little by little losing both his eyesight and his spot in the field.
Bukiya’s works have been exhibited in countries like Georgia, Estonia, Russia, France, Spain, and America, everywhere attracting a huge deal of attention from art lovers, dealers, and collectors. Vladimir Bukiya never desisted from broadening his innovative horizons, having created a whole series of abstract works, cloisonné, sculptural pieces, and panels.
Dimitri Bukiya made a vast and perfectly explanatory presentation of his father’s work and his desire to continue donating his works to the Museum of Fine Arts. This time it was three pieces. Thirty more are in store, waiting for shipment to Tbilisi. These are the precious assets, and the stories connected with them, that symbolize our nation’s continual strength and livelihood, its enduring values, sense of pride, and self-worth. They are erecting a real bridge between our past and future. The act is a sure sign of sustainable development and cultural continuity. It definitely develops a sense of belonging.
The event was celebrated by a solid audience of Tbilisi intellectuals and art buffs, who know what a noble gesture like this one means for the nation. The event was organized and monitored by Neli Kobiashvili, the well-known Georgian journalist and the author of a popular edition about the great Niko Pirosmani, the world-renowned Georgian primitivist painter of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Minister Rukhadze made a meaningful talk that elucidated the importance of events like this one, having briefly but very clearly outlined the attitude of the current Georgian government towards arts, donations thereof, and the value of the repatriation of the Georgian artifacts in general. With an underlined respect for the attending public, the lady minister expressed her sincere gratitude to the attending audience for their participation in the event.
The famous Georgian sculptor Gya Japaridze talked about Vladimir Bukiya’s life, works, and personality, emphasizing his place and importance in the realm of Georgian arts. The fact that they went to the same art school made his talk even more attractive.
While talking about Vladimir Bukiya, we should not forget about other outstanding Georgian artists who have lived in America like him and have acted in the same patriotic way. For instance, Vladimir Kandelaki and Otar Shiukashvili. It is a wonderful feeling that the émigré artists are not forgetting their motherland and are proud to have their works exhibited in Sakartvelo more than anywhere else.
Patriots and talents like them make a huge difference for Georgia, which is not just about another piece of art, whatever extrinsic price it might have, but the unfading intrinsic value harbored in their gifts to the homeland forever. It is definitely not the everyday political triviality that constructs this nation’s appreciable destiny, but the way the nation is treated by its sons and daughters, notwithstanding their whereabouts or standard of living.
By Nugzar B. Ruhadze
