On February 6 at 4:00 p.m., we invite you to a memorial exhibition featuring a single work by Giia Miminoshvili, a master of artistic ceramics, painter, and prominent figure in Ukraine’s cultural scene, who passed away a year ago.
Last summer, we shared the important news that the KhRAM collection had been enriched with the sculptural work “SACRIFICE” (chamotte, ash glazes, wood-fired; 2020–2023), which was kindly donated by the artist’s family following its display in the memorial exhibition “The Horseman in Time,” held at the Metropolitan’s House of the National Reserve “Saint Sophia of Kyiv.” Now we invite you to see the work in person and learn more about Giia Guramovich’s art.
Giia Miminoshvili was born in Sakartvelo and studied at the Department of Monumental Ceramics at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. In 1987, he received a degree from the Film and Photography Department of the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute. In 1993, he moved to Kyiv, where he continued his creative journey. This is important because when we talk about Ukrainian art, we must always remember that it is, in essence, multi-ethnic, as its diversity is shaped by people of various nationalities.
Imposing, witty, sincere—this is how Giia Miminoshvili was remembered by his friends and colleagues in the field, who not without reason considered him a free-spirited philosopher. He lived for his craft, gathering a large number of people around him, especially children of all ages, whom he treated with great respect and for whom he always held numerous free pottery workshops.
“The artist consciously, even somewhat brutally, limited himself in his plastic and expressive means, tirelessly striving toward certain minimalist schemes. Such limitations spurred an inventive spatial interplay that fully corresponded to his ironic and philosophical way of perceiving the world around him” (Orest Holubets).
An artist’s life does not end with physical death; it continues in his work, which, weathering turbulent times, takes on new forms and becomes an integral part of art history. It lives on in his children, memories, and the meanings he so skillfully encoded in his works. It will continue to live on in Ukrainian museums, which, despite all the challenges associated with the war, continue to work to preserve and promote the cultural heritage that belongs to the people of Ukraine.
For reference:
Born in 1958 in the village of Bashi, Samtred, Sakartvelo.
1983 – Graduated from the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, Faculty of Decorative and Applied Arts, Department of Monumental Ceramics, studio of A. Kakabadze.
1987 – graduated from the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute, Department of Film and Photography.
1989 – organizer of the Tbilisi creative association “Vardiya Art Group.”
Since 1993, he has lived and worked in Kyiv.
1997 – organizer of the creative group “Ananas,” Kyiv.
Member of the National Union of Artists of Sakartvelo (1985) and the National Union of Folk Art Masters of Ukraine (1994).
Participant in all-Ukrainian and international art exhibitions since 1989.
Died on February 6, 2025, in Kyiv.
