Anyone strolling along the waterfront in Batumi will at some point encounter two steel figures moving slowly – toward each other, through each other, and away from each other. Their names are Ali and Nino. And although they consist of nothing but horizontally layered steel ribs, they tell one of the most touching stories this city has to offer.
The sculpture was created in 2010 by the Georgian artists Tamar Kvesitadze and Paata Sanaia and is based on the novel of the same name by Kurban Said. It is about an impossible love: He, a Muslim Azeri from Baku. She, a Georgian Christian from Tbilisi. Between them: history, religion, war. And yet also closeness, tenderness – and the attempt to build bridges. That is precisely what this sculpture does: It brings the two together – and then separates them again, in an endless mechanical cycle.
The spectacle lasts around ten minutes, but in motion, it feels like an entire film. A visit at dusk is particularly impressive: the sculpture then glows in changing colors, while behind it the Black Sea slowly disappears into the darkness.