Exhibited in The Books of LOVE DIVE 愛潛水書 (2023), marked as Event II. Photo credit to Ho Ting, at New Asia College, Hong Kong.

Zurab (2022-2023) is a transfictional archaeological reinterpretation of Suram Fortress. This sculpture-like painting and framing have nearly transcended the transience of traditional painting objects. It stands as the most direct fiction-based painting within Ho's body of work, exploring Russian-Ukrainian ethnology and their prehistory of warfare.

EVENT II

Suram Fortress (Georgian: სურამის ციხი)

42°01'10" N 43°33'45" E

(Trad.) 2nd century BCE

Suram Fortress was built on "high rocks." According to Platon Ioseliani, a 19th-century Georgian historian (1910-1875), Suram and its fortress were constructed by King Parnavaz in the first half of the 2nd century BCE.

Durmishkhan fell in love with the slave Vardo (also known as Gulisvardi), but in order to buy Vardo's freedom, he travelled to a distant land and encountered a merchant named Osman- Agha. Osman, who was once a slave himself, rebelled against his slave master after his mother was killed. To escape the accusations, Osman left his homeland and renounced his Orthodox Christian background, converting to Islam.

Under Osman's guidance, Durmishkhan achieved commercial success and forgot about Vardo, who remained in their homeland.

Durmishkhan married another woman and had a son named Zurab.

Meanwhile, Vardo, through a dying old witch, learned of Durmishkhan's marriage and child and became devastated, eventually becoming the new witch herself.

Osman eventually returned to Orthodox Christianity and left his inheritance to Durmishkhan, but he was murdered by Muslims. After reaching adulthood, Zurab faced a large-scale Muslim invasion of Georgia. The king built various castles throughout the country for defense, but Suram Fortress remained neglected and fell into ruins. The king sought the assistance of a witch to determine how to restore the fortress, and the witch proposed a final solution: incorporating a tall, handsome, blue-eyed young man into the city walls. Zurab volunteered to be entombed within the walls, sacrificing himself to save the fortress. It is said that on the side where Zurab was buried, his mother's tears still trickle down. Some say that on moonlit nights, a woman dressed in black visits Suram Fortress and weeps at its ruins, saying, "Suram Fortress, I wish to see you and be with my Zurab. Take good care of him."

[Translated version]

Original exhibition documentation @the_books_of_love_dive

Photo credit to Ho Ting, at New Asia College, Hong Kong.

Text and image by Ho Ting..