Tbilisi's Art Palace among European Museum of the Year Award nominees
The Art Palace museum is one of stand-out venues in the Georgian capital for its architecture and styling. Photo via Art Palace.
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Georgia's Art Palace venue is one of 61 museums nominated for the 2020 European Museum of the Year Award, with the Tbilisi-based cultural institution shortlisted by the European Museum Forum.
The museum, set up in a palace built as a love present in the late 19th century, was picked for the nominee list that involves new or recently renovated venues, with the EMYA prize promoted as "the most prestigious museum award in Europe" by its organisers.
The 2020 prize has nominees ranging from the Hexenmuseum venue in Switzerland to V&A Dundee - "Scotland's first design museum" - and the Pentala Archipelago Museum in Finland.
[The EMF/EMYA] is an important occasion for promoting innovative approaches in the museum sector throughout the whole continent - European Museum Forum
Established in 1977 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Europe-wide prize's awarding ceremony will be hosted at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff in May, where the EMF Annual Conference will convene.
The museum houses exhibits ranging from paintings and engravings to costumes from cinema and stage productions. Photo via Art Palace.
Art Palace qualified for the EMYA nomination through its major 2014 renovation, which saw the venue's individual, themed halls revitalised along with wall paintings restored with historical accuracy.
Located at 6, Ia Kargareteli Street, the museum building is a stand-out spot in Tbilisi due to its remarkable architecture and styling.
It was commissioned by German Prince Konstantin von Oldenburg as a present to Georgian woman Agraphina Japaridze, his romantic partner who left her husband and the western Georgian city of Kutaisi to move to capital Tbilisi in the 1880s.
Its design coming from architect Paul Stern, author of other recognised buildings of the 19th century Tbilisi, the building has been called a "perfect example of Gothic and Islamic architecture" in the official museum history.
A view of the Music Hall, one of the themed rooms of the museum. Photo via Art Palace.
Decades after its construction, art historian David Arsenishvili moved the Museum of Theatre into the venue in 1927, which gave it the status of the first museum of this kind in the South Caucasus and a collection of over 300,000 exhibits on Georgian theatre, cinema, circus, folklore, opera, and ballet.
Items from 16th century Persian miniatures and French engravings to works by 20th century Georgian painters, costumes from the local cinema and stage productions and textile exhibits are part of Art Palace showcase.
Also known as the Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography, in 2016 it became the first Georgian museum to be featured by Google Cultural Institute, a large online platform of worldwide venues presenting their collections in digital form.
Art Palace exhibition of artwork on the online platform later became the largest digital repository from the South Caucasus region. The story of the museum itself can also be found on the repository.
As the new coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the world and cultural venues in Georgia remain in shutdown along with other public institutions, the Art Palace museum is offering those staying at home a YouTube recording of a tour of the iconic Tbilisi space.
Millions of visitors of Europeana, the largest European digital platform for cultural heritage, will now be able to learn about Georgian costumes worn by the country’s historical nobility as well as those used in classic film and theatre productions.
Art enthusiasts in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi can now view classical works depicting 19th century Georgian cities and countryside by German painter Paul von Franken, after the pieces were donated to the city’s Art Palace museum this week.
Tbilisi’s Art Palace venue achieved a new milestone this week after its exhibition of artwork on Google Arts and Culture online platform became the largest digital repository from the South Caucasus.
A Tbilisi art museum is the first to be showcased by the world’s largest online art database uniting collections from some of the world’s leading art venues.
Eight halls in a historic Georgian complex have opened after undergoing major renovation and restoration work.
After long-term negotiations with the owner, Tbilisi Art Palace Museum has acquired Georgian Queen Darejan Dadiani’s (King Erekle II’s wife, 18th century) unique pendant with the financial support of Georgian doctor Zaza Chanturaia.
Tbilisi's Art Palace museum and the Dadiani Palace venue in Georgia's west have joined the likes of Musee du Louvre in Paris, State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and Thanjavur Maratha Palace in Tamil Nadu on the roster of palace museums on the Network of European Royal Residences.
"Unique" museum exhibits of textile and silverware will find new home in an expanded space of Tbilisi's Art Palace museum, after the culture ministry's announcement it had obtained property adjacent to the venue on Thursday. The ministry revealed it had purchased a "historical building" located next to Art Palace, with a space of over 400 square metres.
The Bolnisi Museum, a Georgian National Museum network venue unveiled last year, is now a contender for the 2022 European Museum of the Year Award, after the GNM's "model of the 21st century regional museum" in a historical town in the country south was selected among nominees for the prize.
Spanish Baroque artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo’s 19th century Madonna and Child, originally purchased by the Tsarist-era Georgian entrepreneur Davit Sarajishvili in Paris, will be exhibited at Tbilisi’s Art Palace museum to mark International Museum Day on Friday.
A “unique” collection of Georgian carpets and ceramics, previously kept in unsuitable conditions in the basement of the Tbilisi-based Art Palace museum, has found a new home in a newly obtained space of the venue, Giorgi Kalandia, the Director of the institution, announced on Tuesday.
Bolnisi Museum, a Georgian National Museum network venue unveiled in the country's south two years ago, has received acclaim at the European Museum of the Year Awards after its nomination for the prize earlier this year.
Two recently renovated venues in Georgia, the Vani Archeological Museum in Georgia's west and Ilia Chavchavadze Literary Memorial Museum in capital Tbilisi, have been nominated for the 2023 European Museum of the Year Award by the European Museum Forum.
The Ilia Chavchavadze Literary Memorial Museum, a Tbilisi venue dedicated to the life and legacy of the major public figure of the 19th century Georgia, has been selected for the Special Commendation of this year's European Museum of the Year Award.