"His work is dark because his life itself was dark, " Kote told me as we admired the exhibition.

BBC: To be in Tbilisi

We were lucky to fall in with Kote Koubanishvilli, perhaps the county's leading exponent of this form of satirical, political wordplay.

BBC: To be in Tbilisi

Kote guided us to several gallery openings and exhibitions.

BBC: To be in Tbilisi

Kote was the first poet I have met who is stopped on the street by swooning teenaged girls and asked for autographs - he was also our key to an embryonic underground music scene where names like Irakli Charkviani and Lado Burdelli are the ones to watch.

BBC: To be in Tbilisi