The White Bridge and "Picasso's Boy" in Kutaisi

The White Bridge crosses the Rioni River in the center of Kutaisi, in Georgia, the country in the South Caucasus, connecting the two banks at one of the busiest pedestrian points in the city. In purely architectural terms it's a modest, functional crossing rather than a feat of engineering — but it has accumulated a character and an affection in Kutaisi's life far beyond its practical role, anchored above all by a small bronze sculpture, "Picasso's Boy," that has become one of the most recognized images of the city.

What is the White Bridge?

The White Bridge is a historic pedestrian bridge over the Rioni River in the old center of Kutaisi, western Georgia. First built in the mid-19th century (around 1850–1852) and named for its white-painted railings — which echo the pale stones in the river below — it's best known today for the bronze statue of "Picasso's Boy" on its railing: a boy clutching two snatched hats, drawn from Eldar Shengelaia's beloved 1968 film The Extraordinary Exhibition. The bridge is a free, 24-hour public space and one of central Kutaisi's favorite meeting points and photo stops, lined with café and restaurant terraces and especially atmospheric in the evening.

A bridge with real history

The White Bridge has been part of Kutaisi's life far longer than its low-key appearance suggests. A crossing was first built here in the mid-19th century (commonly dated to around 1850–1852, by a military engineer named Vitte), and after flood damage the bridge was rebuilt — its iron frame reportedly imported from France around 1872 — with the metal elements and railings painted white, which (together with the smooth white stones in the riverbed) gave it the name it has carried ever since. In the mid-20th century it was a gathering place for the city's cultural figures, and it was renovated in 2019, when some of the deck was replaced with glass panels and lines of Georgian poetry were engraved into it.

The views along the Rioni in both directions are pleasant — the river runs broad and clear through the city here, the banks green, the hills visible in the distance — and the position over the water makes the bridge a natural place to pause on a walk through the center rather than just a crossing to pass over.

"Picasso's Boy" on the railing

The sculpture that made the White Bridge genuinely famous is small enough to miss if you aren't looking for it: a life-size bronze figure of a boy on the railing, two hats clutched in his hands, caught in the instant of a mischievous dive toward the river below. Placed on the bridge in 2004, it's known affectionately as "Picasso's Boy."

The figure comes from a specific, much-loved scene in Eldar Shengelaia's 1968 film The Extraordinary Exhibition (sometimes translated An Unusual Exhibition; scripted by the celebrated Rezo Gabriadze). In the film, the main character, walking across the bridge, notices an ordinary boy perched on the railing and remarks that he could have stepped out of a Picasso painting — the very ideal of art. The boy responds by snatching the men's hats and leaping into the Rioni with a shout. The sculpture distills that moment of comic, poetic Kutaisi spirit into bronze and places it on the actual bridge — which also nods to a genuine local tradition of boys diving from the railing to prove their nerve, sometimes called a "baptism as a Kutaisian."

It's the kind of public sculpture that earns its place not through monumental ambition but through the accuracy and warmth of its observation, and the small figure against the river has become one of the most photographed sights in Kutaisi. Visitors pose beside it, climb onto the railing to copy the stance, or simply stop to look — and that easy interaction between people and the bronze boy is part of what gives the bridge its social life.

The bridge as urban space

The White Bridge is one of the main meeting points in central Kutaisi, the role pedestrian river bridges naturally take on in cities where the riverbank is part of daily life. The Rioni is wide enough here to give a real sense of crossing rather than stepping over a channel, and the views in both directions reward the pause the sculpture invites. Café and restaurant terraces near the bridge approaches extend its social life into the surrounding streets, making the area one of the more pleasant places to spend an evening hour in the city.

The bridge connects naturally to the Colchis Fountain and the central square a short walk to the east, and toward the Green Bazaar area in the other direction, so it falls easily into any walking route through the center. Evening is the most atmospheric time to come — the bridge is lit, the river darkens to moving shadow, and the illuminated city behind the bronze boy on the railing makes the most photogenic version of the scene.

Practical information

• Location: White Bridge over the Rioni River, old center of Kutaisi, Imereti region, western Georgia.
• Getting there: In the heart of central Kutaisi, an easy walk from the central square / Colchis Fountain and the Green Bazaar area.
• Hours: Open at all times — a public space, freely accessible 24 hours.
• Admission: Free.
• Best time: Lovely any time for a pause and a photo with "Picasso's Boy"; most atmospheric in the evening, when the bridge and city are lit.
• Tip: The boy with the two hats is small and easy to miss — look for him on the railing.