Giorgoba, George slays the dragon, Zurab Tsereteli

george-slays-dragon-tbilisi, originally uploaded by grijsz.

Zurab Tsereteli's sculpture Monument of Freedom will be revealed on Freedom Square Tbilisi on Thursday, November 23th. Details here

In the Georgian Times it is said, that the descision to put it on the column was made by Gouvernment, wich is difficult to follow. I definitly think, it was the artists descision, no matter by whom it was, it was very wise.

The column with the rider Giorgi on its horse slaying the dragon has a big impact to the composition of the whole ensemble Freedom Square [Georgian: Tavisuplebis Moidani], like an "i" with the point golden illuminated in the sky. And it got the perfect size to look at, it seems to ask your eye, "follow me..."

It is a representive piece, deeply connected with myth, history and reality of the symbol and with Georgia on the other side. It could stand in other countries, like the U.S, in other cities like Moscow, but there it seems to be beautiful but a little dishonest. Here in Georgia has it found its right place, a kind of true message: We are small, we had been beaten, but we always fight back. We do not want any evil to others, as we rest in our selfs, in our families, our land, in our language, poetry and habits. We are dreamers and sometimes go for taking the skies.
Saw you Misha storming Shevardnadzes parliament ? This is George, hotblooded but undaunted by death.

We feel reflected in George. The sculpture is vivid, changing and lively. It mirrors the Georgian character. It is right in our centre, between the earth we stand on and the heaven far above. It is an ideal to strive to, as we are far from perfect.

And it's a delighted elegance around Tsereteli's George, bringing the death to the monster in a playful dance. Compare it to the stress of other Georges fighting the mighty dragon.


St.Georg, Berlin

Tsereteli's sculptures are admired but got lot of critic too. See here examples of his works:

In Russia and Ukraine

http://www.tsereteli.ru/eng/g.php?country=RUSSIA,%20GEORGIA,%20UKRAINE

in the US

http://www.blueofthesky.com/publicart/works/goodandevil.htm

http://www.tsereteli.ru/eng/g.php?country=THE%20UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA

with the discussion of Tear of Sorrow on a Russian blog

http://www.russiablog.org/2006/07/russia_donates_911_memorial_to.html

and the controversy on this monument dedicated to 9/11

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/12/monument.shtml

"Controversy also emerged when it transpired that the sculptor had mistakenly included the names of about 40 people on the monument who had survived the attacks, but were on some lists of presumed fatalities."

http://zeebeam.blogspot.com/2006/10/911-memorial-by-zurab-tsereteli.html

http://smetanka.blogspot.com/2006/09/russia-tear-of-grief-intro-to-orthodox.html

and other critical voices

http://www.veryrussian.net/2006/zurab-tsereteli-goes-america.html

Art Students earlier this year protested against the plan of Tsereteli's sculpture. What instead of the "better contemporary",as you demanded, you wanted to place here ?

Zura, this is a master piece !