Otar Karalashvili is a Georgian graphic designer, book artist, publisher, and educator. He studied Mathematics, Painting, and English in Tbilisi and Moscow, and worked as a researcher and mathematics lecturer in Georgia, Germany, and Japan before turning fully to publishing and design.
In 1995, he co-founded Diogene Publishers, one of the first independent publishing houses in Georgia, where he worked as a publisher, book designer, illustrator, graphic and interior designer, translator, and interpreter.
Since 2009, he has been teaching Graphic Design, Typography, Book Design, and Illustration at various art schools in Tbilisi. In 2012, he founded Book Art Center Tbilisi, an educational and creative studio dedicated to picture books, photobooks, and artist books. The center was twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for its contribution to Georgian children’s illustration.
In 2014, he initiated and curated the international book festival Tbilisi Book Days until 2017 and has curated numerous international book art exhibitions.
In 2023, he founded 1/16, a series of photobooks by Georgian photographers, where he serves as publisher, co-curator, and designer.
