These beings have not gone anywhere; it is only we who have lost the ability to see them. We can no longer perceive them, even though they are vast entities. These small deities are always with us as long as we live in this world, on Earth, in this form. They remember everything, all of our experiences, even though we often forget them. They ensure that the riddles we are meant to solve remain our own choice. In ancient times, people saw them more clearly; now it has become more difficult to perceive them. However, sometimes, if we completely free the mind from chaos, focus on the present moment, and narrow our eyes, it may be possible to see them, especially when we are in sacred places.
Companion. 2025
With @____reckless____
pH by @photomaker_d.k
At @factorytbilisi
Spotlight on Uta Bekaia (@utabekaia )
Presented by Window Project (@windowproject__ )
at VIMA Art Fair 2026
Uta Bekaia (b. 1974) is an artist whose practice reimagines ancestral rituals through the lens of a queer utopian future. Working across wearable sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and performance, he constructs immersive environments shaped by craft, symbolism, and collective presence.
Drawing from traditional techniques and cultural references, his works transform into living forms — activated through movement, film, and staged encounters.
Credits: ‘Roots’, performance, 2025
Video by Stepan Liubimov
The Mountains Ritual. Oil on canvas. 150× 180cm.
In the mountains of Tusheti, the veil between dimensions is so thin that even a single mindful act, a simple ritual: becomes an easy way to connect to the universe and the higher entities within.
I fear folks are missing this little sweet poetic plaque with all the wild stuffed and woven pieces surrounding it x 71.1 cm)
BA-2524
Uta Bekaia
Me and My Two Sisters, 2025
Embroidery with plastic glass and ceramic frame
13.4 x 24 x 2 in @utabekaia@outsiderartfair@marisanewmanprojects
@utabekaia talks about motivation, childhood, vulnerability, and how it influences his craft.
Uta Bekaia is a Georgian-born multimedia artist.
His work centers on the speculative recreation of ancestral rituals, reimagined through a Queer utopian lens.
Drawing inspiration from traditional crafts, Bekaia creates elaborate wearable sculptures, ceramics, tapestries, and objects, which he weaves into immersive installations, films, and live performances.Blending traditional craftsmanship with contemporary narratives.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Bekaia moved to New York in the late 1990s and has spent much of his adult life immersed in its vibrant art scene. He now divides his time between Tbilisi, New York, and cities across Europe, actively participating in international artistic collaborations.
His exhibitions have been hosted by notable galleries including ERTI Gallery (Tbilisi), the Silk Museum (Tbilisi), The Lodge Gallery (New York), Marisa Newman Projects (New York), and the Center for Contemporary Art (Batumi).
In 2019, he co-founded Fungus, a creative collective in Tbilisi that provides a collaborative platform for LGBTQ+ artists, fostering visibility and empowerment within Georgia’s cultural landscape.
@benext_contest@jamproject_
The series “Little Deities” is part of a project inspired by the mythologies of the Georgian mountains, where landscapes were traditionally believed to be inhabited by protective spirits and guardians.
These works imagine such beings as small totems—protectors that exist somewhere between folklore, memory, and imagination. The figures also draw from visions of childhood, when invisible companions and guardians often inhabit the inner world.
The sculptures are glazed ceramic works finished with gold luster, transforming simple clay forms into small sacred presences.
In this way, the series reimagines ancient protective forces as intimate objects—guardians of dreams, memory, and inner landscapes.
When I Spread My Hands and Kneel, a Diamond Grows from My Heart — size: 29 / 14 / 13
Those who kneel with an open heart may feel a hidden stone of light beginning to grow inside their chest.
The Rabbit, that Jumped Over the Stars — size: 29 / 27 / 16
On certain nights a rabbit runs across the sky, carrying the unfinished dreams between the stars.
Roots Do Not Grow Only Downward, They Also Rise Toward the Sky — size: 26 / 20 / 12
It is said this spirit teaches roots to remember the stars they once fell from.
Hair of Wisdom — size: 25 / 22 / 12
Every strand of its hair holds a forgotten story whispered long ago by the wind.
The Octopus That Creates Dreams — size: 30 / 24 / 20
With eight quiet arms it gathers fragments of the night and releases them into the dreams of sleeping people.
The Bear Protecting the Soul — size: 29 / 24 / 19
When a soul becomes lost or frightened, a small bear appears and sits beside it until morning.
The Angel of All — size: 22 / 28 / 17
This angel belongs to no temple and no nation, appearing wherever a lonely path needs a witness.
Companion of Shape-Shifting — size: 27 / 22 / 17
Those who dare to change their form will find this creature already waiting beside them.
🔥
I’m pleased to announce that some of my work will be presented at ARCO Art Fair in Madrid with @windowproject__
March 4 – 8, 2026
Booth: 90P05
IFEMA Madrid | Av. del Partenón, 5, Barajas, 28042 Madrid, Spain
The Mother Fire is a conceptual investigation of transformation as ritual passage. It approaches fire and natural elements as active forces of change — agents of collapse, purification, and regeneration. The work frames ritual not as reenactment, but as a tool for reconfiguring identity beyond fixed forms, proposing becoming as an elemental process shaped by cycles of destruction, care, and renewal. Through this lens, transformation emerges as a necessary and sacred condition for imagining new modes of existence.
Works Presented:
Divine Fire
Tapestry
86 × 130 cm
Mixed media: fabric, embroidery, engraved plexiglass
Made with together my sister @khatunabekaia
“The Feast of Preparation for Transformation”
Engraved organza
50 × 32 cm
“The Transformation Journals”
Mixed media
PH by @photomaker_d.k
A new studio so happy to be here ⭐️ It’s an amazing space that I will share very soon with all of you. For anyone who would like to come for a studio visit to see and purchase some of my artwork, I will be sending invitations for open studios soon and hope to see you there. 🙏🏻
About the location: it’s in The Factory, the place that used to be the Coca-Cola factory. This space is growing into a cultural hub, a safe and creative location that will produce incredible things, which are so needed and important for Georgia. I’m so happy to be part of it… ❤️
ახალი სტუდია. ძალიან ბედნიერი ვარ აქ ყოფნით! ამ საოცარ სივრცეს მალე თქვენც გაგიზიარებთ. ვისაც სურს, შეუძლია მოინახულოს სტუდია, იხილოს და შეიძინოს ჩემი ნამუშევრები. მალე გამოგიგზავნით მოსაწვევებს ღია სტუდიის დღისთვის.
ლოკაცია: ეს არის The Factory, ადგილი, რომელიც ადრე Coca-Cola-ის ქარხანა იყო. ეს სივრცე ვითარდება კულტურულ ცენტრად, უსაფრთხო და შემოქმედებით ლოკაციად, რომელიც შექმნის საოცარ პროექტებს, რომლებიც ძალიან საჭირო და მნიშვნელოვანია საქართველოსთვის. მიხარია და ბედნიერი ვარ, რომ ნაწილი ვარ ამ პროცესის.
Winter solstice at @tsinandali.museum@tsinandaliestate
Curated by @mariakakabadze_
🌞❄️✨⭐️
As the Great Conjunction is upon us, I want to wish you a happy Winter Solstice. I wish for both you and myself a great change and a shift of consciousness with this event.
I wish to live in a world without borders—
a world where we understand that war is a crime with no justification;
where heroes are not murderers, but wise people who dare to travel beyond and return with knowledge for all of us.
I wish to live in a world where we recognize that we are part of this planet, and we treat our Mother Earth with respect;
where we do not think like greedy predators with an endless need to fill the bottomless void within;
where we take responsibility for our actions and find balance with our surroundings.
I wish to live in a world where there is no fear of the unknown,
where ignorance is not the driving force, but love is;
where we fully understand and utilize our potential and find peace;
And most of all, I wish you and myself LOVE.
Uta
