WRITING ABOUT ART IN SOVIET GEORGIA: THE FUNCTION, PURPOSE, AND CHALLENGES OF REVIEW CRITICISM

Abstract

The focus of the present inquiry was to study the mission and problems, as well as crucial functions and work fields, organizational property issues, censorship and cultural policy engagement of art criticism in Soviet Georgia during the timeline of 1930-1980s. It is important to understand the impact of art criticism on the socio-political outlook of soviet Georgian Art and the ways in interacted with the phenomenon of state commissioned art.

The methodological framework, aesthetical and social norms of Georgian Art Criticism in Soviet era, were usually produced by the Moscow-based state-controlled art institutions in the form of strategic programs and as a result of centralized policy, was established as the obligatory pattern. The research subject with its Georgian narrative was only a regional part of the former Soviet Union’s art scene – nevertheless, as a culturological matter it contains possibilities of generalization. Meanwhile, Georgian art Criticism in Soviet era represents official soviet discourse as well as noteworthy hybrid relations of the local reality – on the one hand, it was the Soviet product, with Russification tendencies, on the other hand, it possessed distinguished features and authenticity of expression that define its outstanding value.

            The research outcomes highlight Georgian Art Criticism as a cultural phenomenon of Soviet epoch and represent this problem from various perspectives, including Georgian Art Criticism’s: 1) multifunctionality and multiplicity, 2) leading role in self-identification and self-presentation strategies of Soviet Georgian Art, 3) consequences of instrumentalization 4) despite the institutional framework of Soviet ideology, authentic expression through local identities.

          Keywords: art criticism; function; cultural policy; Soviet periphery;