On the colour of pomegranates...

In the 1700s, Georgian-Armenian poet Sayat Nova travelled the Caucasus as an ashugh – a troubadour sharing songs of love and life. (The word ashugh derives from the arabic ʿāshiq, meaning lovelorn.) His songs are still remembered today as carriers of cultural history.

In 1967, film-maker Sergei Parajanov began work on a biography of Nova's life: The Colour of Pomegranates. A biography like no other, the film is a series of symbols and tableaux of stunning visual imagery. At first banned by the Soviets, it has since come to be recognised as perhaps the most beautiful film ever made. I first encountered the film as a child, catching glimpses of a late night screening: its mysterious imagery has haunted me since.

As Nova interpreted his love stories in song, and Parajanov added his own layers of celluloid symbolism and visual poetry, this series adds another layer of interpretation – bringing these magical images to physical life in clay, bronze and gold.