MERAB
BULISKIRIA
MERAB
BULISKIRIA
ფერმწერი
I know that this story, even told in the most concise way possible, already has a certain value and interest in itself. But I want to emphasize something else.
First, on the power of faith and self-confidence. They influence not only our own destiny, but also nature itself. My life is punctuated by events that seem to prove this truth. Believe in your desires, and you will see them fulfilled.
Then, on the depth of this experience. This story reads like a fairy tale, and yet I haven't altered a single letter of it. I've simply summarized it as much as possible.
I will finish this painting properly. I am certain of it. I also feel an obligation to do so. Besides, can I do otherwise?
(No, I will not allow myself to imagine that this man became homeless precisely so that, years later, I could come across him and paint him in this sublime pose, dressed in rags, dirty perhaps, but inwardly pure. No, that is not it.)
What I feel is that everything that has happened, everything, has happened for a reason—through my fault, or some force beyond our control. So I must make sure that Zeus is known, that he permeates consciousness, that he lives on in the sight of as many people as possible, not as a vagabond, but as a free man.
He had nothing—not even clean clothes—but he was happy. He was real. He wore no mask. He was simply himself.
Despite his social status, he was dignified and serene. I don't pretend he was without pain, but he seemed to have transcended that pain.
I want the world to know that he existed.
Today we are ourselves. Tomorrow we could be in his place. We must never forget that. We must remain human.
And I will.
I will bring Mr. Hakim into the hearts of those who see him. We must all live for the common good.
We must be aware of others, offer shining examples. Hakim himself may not have been aware of the role he played in my story. But it doesn't matter. It happened. And since it happened, I have a duty to pass it on.
Creating something that begets something better—that is the essence of art.
10/17/23: He saw a newly finished painting…
M.B.