Description
Giorgi Lolua's 2003 illustration "Mother of Georgia" is a sharp, tragicomic satire on the severe socio-economic conditions and mass labor emigration of Georgia at that time. The drawing depicts the empty pedestal of one of Tbilisi's main symbols, the "Mother of Georgia" monument, where only her traditional attributes - a sword and a bowl - are left behind, while the statue itself is nowhere to be seen. Below the pedestal, an inscription reads: "Gone to Turkey!" This illustration symbolically conveys the harsh reality where, due to extreme hardship and unemployment, a large part of the Georgian population, especially women, felt forced to migrate to neighboring Turkey to support their families. The author ironically and tragically implies that due to the unbearable conditions in the country, even the patron symbol of the land, the "Mother of Georgia," could no longer endure, abandoned her post, and left for Turkey to work just like other ordinary citizens.
