“Dreams of the Communists”, Expo Georgia 8th Pavilion

Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

Constructed: 1960-1971

Architects: D. Paninashvili, L. Mamaladze, V. Nasaridze, W. Peykrishvili (architects), Leonardo Shengelia, Guram Kalandadze, Aliko Gorgadze, Tezo Asatiani and Kukuri Tsereteli (artists)

Former names: The Exhibition of the Successes of the Georgian Economy/VDNKH Exhibition Centre

Genre: Soviet artwork, former USSR

The VDNKH Exhibition Centre was established to replace the Stalinist Empire style building that had been the city’s trade fair since the 1930s. Constructed over a period of eleven years, the new and much larger EXPO featured attractive pathways, well-places sculptures, green space and bodies of water, as well as more pavilions, all of which were designed in the style of Soviet Modernism.

The artwork is part of a series of mosaics that decorate the landscape of the exhibition centre that are collectively called the “Dreams of the Communists”. The theme across all of them is advancement and success, with science and technology the main focal points. They are based on the title of a work by Czech-born East German artist, Walter Womacka who was responsible for many notable mosaics and other pieces of monumental art in the style of socialist realism in East Berlin during the 1950s through to the 1980s.