The goal of Georgian artist Iliko Zautashvili in his photographic diptych Caucasian Manifesto, Archetype of Prohibition, (diptych, colour photographs, 2008) is to make commonplace the Caucasian myth and reality through images. The first image shows the bodies of a man and a woman lying next to each other with a knife among them, while the second image shows the disobedience to the rule the knife represents. 

The artist translates this archaic motive into the present to show the absurdity of the rules regarding prohibitive nature, many of which continue to exist on a conscious or subconscious level - the memory of a violation which entails various kinds of punishment. Sometimes these traditional bans can manifest within social regulations as well. For example, a death penalty may be given when one commits an act of cruelty upon another. The message of this work is that there are some prohibitions and biases that continue to exist, oppressing society’s freedom of choice. The knife symbolizes censorship, taboo and a ban. The violation entails a punishment, a death. It is possible to assume that this interdiction still suppresses some people as it extends not only to sexual relationships, but also to current prohibitions, like a subtext layered within social consciousness. The work is an attempt to research the traditional topic of a ban and its influence on a human being who violates or obeys the banning. It also exists as a visual symbol for the control which society still holds in relation to the individual.