Ali and Nino (Statue of Love), Tamara Kvesitadze, 2010

​Based on the 1937 novel Ali and Nino by the pseudonymous Kurban Said, this 26-foot steel sculpture on the Black Sea in Batumi, Georgia, depicts Ali, an Azerbaijani Muslim boy, and Nino, a Georgian Christian princess. Their love story, like that of Romeo and Juliet, was blocked and tragic. Ali died in World War I. Each figure stands at a different point on a rotating circular platform. Every 10 minutes, as it turns, it draws the lovers together. They touch, pause, kiss, then pass through each other, separating once again. The action reflects the tension between their love and religion, Caucasus politics, and war. [Visit YouTube for a time-lapse video of the statue in motion (wait out or skip the ads) at “Ali and Nino,” very first image.]