“Corona Days” Artworks of Young Georgian Artists: Mariam Rukhadze

In collaboration with BI Auction, for the past 10 weeks, GEORGIA TODAY has presented young artists taking part in the online exhibition ‘Artworks @Corona Days.’ This week, in our final interview of the project, we spoke to Mariam Rukhadze, a devoted artist who, as she says, can’t remember the world in which she did not paint.

“Mariam Rukhadze was my inspiration for organizing the ‘Young Artists Competition,’ which also resulted in that 10-week project ‘Artworks@Corona Days’ in collaboration with GEORGIA TODAY,” says Bengü Akcardak, BI Auction co-founder and the organizer of this project.

“She created these artworks a long time ago, but her works always represent her sensitivity towards the problems that humanity faces. She is now at another stage of ‘creativity,’ which means ‘life and hope’ for the future, so we will wrap up this outstanding project with her works. With this project, I hope GEORGIA TODAY’s readers also enjoyed discovering the 12 young artists, their feelings and artworks, and I hope they have also ‘Healed with Art’ as we did! Now it is time to end ‘Corona days’ and restart other projects in upcoming sunny and healthy days,” Bengü tells us.

Deeply connected to her creative side since early childhood, Mariam did not have to think twice about her future profession. What started out as child-doodling with colored pencils turned into Mariam’s way of exploring and expressing the world and herself. She got both her BA and MA from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, in the direction of Fine Arts, and even got to be an assistant to her professor and teach freshmen in the same school, an experience she deems one of the most important in her life.

“It is a great feeling to feel ready to teach others and learn from them, sharing knowledge,” she says.

Mariam feels the coronavirus pandemic “brought the list of human demands to a minimum.” At first, she found it hard to work, but then her creative nature helped her reflect on the new realities of An Isolated New World, not as utopia-dystopian as A Brave New World, but just as terrorizing to experience.

Mariam’s views on the future of the New Art World seem realistic. She notes that it is exactly the online exhibitions during these unprecedented times that may possess the ability to save an artist’s name from the doom of being forgotten.

“Without ongoing contact and activity, an artist can get forgotten over time. Three dimensional projects and exhibitions have been cancelled due to the pandemic, and so it has become very important for artists to stay active though distant from the public, online,” Mariam explains, going on to note it will take a lot of materialistic and time resources to get the art space working again and have the demand for art rise.

Mariam’s artworks presented in the Art@Corona Days online exhibition have proven to be somewhat prophetic: they were done before any pandemic threatened the world and it’s a little bit uncanny how the paintings represent the present day.

“Back when I was creating these pieces, I didn’t know what the world was getting ready for us; I didn’t know that the future held physical distances and shared fear. These are not the feelings of one person, nor the worry and concern of one country: it is a problem and misfortune for every person globally. Thinking about this gives me a weird feeling. How can we be so far apart and yet so united against one thing?” Mariam wonders, echoing the wonder of many of us. “It’s as if we were standing in complete darkness with tiny lights in hand, and what makes us feel that we are not completely alone is seeing those lights. I believe this is the start of new inspirations, the start of understanding the word ‘human’ correctly, and the chance to get closer to ourselves,” Mariam tells us.

“No matter how hard you try to isolate yourself from people, and everyday life, ultimately, our thoughts, emotions, even pains are caused by the epoch in which we live. I believe that honesty is the most important thing in painting: it is the premise of an artist to deliver what they have to say to the public,” explains the young artist.

These last words of Mariam’s reminded me of the last words of Fitzgerald’s in The Great Gatsby: “so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” I think what Mariam said could contribute to its reformation of the art world.

About BI Auction ‘for ART’: BI Auction is the first Art Auction Company of Georgia, established in 2016. The company’s aim is to promote Georgian art and artists and enlarge the market. In four years, BI Auction ‘for ART’ has organized eight auctions and presented more than 450 paintings from 125 Georgian painters. In every auction, the collection is selected from among a thousand paintings from the well-known legendary artists of Georgia and also from promising young artists. For more information, please contact biauction1@gmail.com

By Nini Dakhundaridze