ATINATI’s Cultural Center continues its exhibition series, The ATINATI Collection, and for the first time presents, in its own exhibition space a solo exhibition of Merab Abramishvili’s works.
This exhibition is part of the mega-exhibition cycle “Merab Abramishvili – Transparent Memory”, organized by Baia Gallery. The project, which encompasses both ATINATI’s Cultural Center and Baia Gallery’s two exhibition spaces, establishes a significant precedent for a large-scale presentation of Abramishvili’s art. Two institutions simultaneously offer distinct strategies for exhibiting and interpreting the artist’s legacy: Baia Gallery adopts a multimedia approach to the study and display of Abramishvili’s cultural heritage, while the ATINATI’s Cultural Center presents the single-artist collection model, within which the painter’s multifaceted work unfolds as a coherent and engaging panorama before the viewer.
At ATINATI’s, visitors will see more than forty of Merab Abramishvili’s most popular and distinctive works, tracing the evolution of his artistic path. The exhibition encompasses the full range of Abramishvili’s paintings — from religious themes to landscapes, plant motifs, animal imagery, and female figures.
Merab Abramishvili’s art holds a special place in the formation of the ATINATI Private Collection. His creative legacy became the inspiration for starting the collection. The artist's religious compositions, the metaphor of the Garden of Paradise, and his captivating portrayals of humans and animals captured the collector’s imagination, leading to the early and substantial enrichment of the collection with Abramishvili’s works.
The ATINATI’s Cultural Center’s emphasis on Abramishvili reflects a particular interest in the modern evolution of religious themes and iconography. The collector was deeply moved by the artist’s expressive and distinctive style, his meticulous technique, and his rare ability to harmonize traditional and modern artistic forms within his own creative vision.
A significant portion of Abramishvili’s works was acquired by ATINATI through international auctions and private collections abroad. ATINATI’s mission is to identify, acquire, and repatriate Georgian cultural treasures — including émigré art, cultural heritage, and other works dispersed beyond the nation’s borders for decades. These items are being consolidated into a single collection and made accessible through exhibitions that promote their viewing, study, and appreciation.
This ongoing process continues to reveal surprises and rediscoveries — as works once thought lost or unknown return to Georgia, the cultural homeland from which they began their voyage. The exhibition at ATINATI’s stands as a vivid and exceptional testament to this endeavor.
Merab Abramishvili
(March 16, 1957, Tbilisi – July 22, 2006, Tbilisi)
Merab Abramishvili is one of the most significant figures in Georgian contemporary art, celebrated both locally and internationally. His work is characterized by profound spirituality and a unique synthesis of Christian symbolism, Georgian cultural heritage, Eastern and Western artistic traditions, and contemporary visual thought.
In Abramishvili’s art, global culture and national identity coexist in harmony. His paintings seek to reunite the material and spiritual realms, guided by a belief that harmony and faith are the means of redemption in a timeless cosmos shaped by his vision of time and space.
ATINATI Team
