Check out Where.ge's choice of the top must-see exhibitions over the next month. You'll be spoiled for choice!
MUSEUMS
1) GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM (GNM), SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUM
Address: 3 Shota Rustaveli Ave.
TEL: +995 299 80 22
www.museum.ge
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday; 10 AM - 5:30 PM
Tickets: Adult –5 GEL, Student –1 GEL, School children –0.5 GEL, Children under
6 – FREE; Guide service -10-25– GEL; Guide service is delivered in Georgian, English, German, and Russian.
EXHIBITIONS:
STONE AGE GEORGIA
The exhibition displays the Georgian Stone Age (1.77 million - 8 thousand years) as well as anthropological material discovered in other parts of the world, presenting the time flow of human evolution. The introductory part of the exposition presents the paleoenvironments and evolution of the land fauna from the late Miocene (8-5 million years), before evidence of the dispersal of the early hominins to Southern Caucasian territories.
This exhibition presents realistic reconstructions of early hominins and the Dmanisi paleoenvironment by world renowned paleoartists such as Elizabeth Daynes, John Gurche, Mauricio Anton and Rodolfo Nogueira.
ARCHEOLOGICAL TREASURE
Enjoy pieces of goldsmithry discovered in Georgia and dated from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The collection includes over 600 pieces of Georgian gold works, including gold and silver adornments such as diadems, earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings, and gold, silver and glass plates and dishes, statues, weapons, and more.
GEORGIAN COSTUME & WEAPONRY OF 18TH-20TH CENTURIES
The royal dress of King Teimuraz II, Nino Gurieli's dress, Tekla Batonishvili's personal sewing machine, a robe of Alexander Bariatinsky - Deputy of the Caucasus, a tambourine painted by Mihaly Zichy, feminine attire of Abkhazian and Ingilo women, and more.
NUMISMATIC TREASURY
Showcases a long history of money circulation on the territory of modern Georgia from the 6th century BC. to 1834.
The exposition starts with the "first primitive money"- large bronze discs of different weight and form that date back to the 2nd-1st millenniums B.C., and "Kauri" a mollusk shell from the Indian Ocean.
NEW LIFE TO THE ORIENTAL COLLECTIONS
Check out the oriental collections, featuring up to 180 objects of the Egyptian and Islamic worlds and Far East culture: an Egyptian mummy and sarcophagus, Koran page on oil paper dated to the 8th century, examples of easel, miniature and lacquer painting, metal and ceramic dishes, objects of ritual meaning, adorned battle weapons of precious metal, and more.
Until March 9
ZURAB KALANDADZE'S 65th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION
The exhibition showcases 27 of Zurab Kalandadze's artworks, created in 2002-2012, the main stylistic characteristic of which is the organic connection between myth and poetry. The exposition also showcases a sculpture, "Tree of Love," designed with the glass-laser carving technique.
2) MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Address: 1 L. Gudiashvili Str.
TEL: +995 299 99 09
www.museum.ge
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 5.30 PM
Tickets: Adult – 3-5 GEL, Student – 1 GEL, School children – 0.5 GEL.
EXHIBITIONS:
THE TREASURE OF THE MUSEUM OF ART
The treasure includes artifacts from the Early Bronze Age, Antique Hellenistic Age, Middle Ages, and modern period until the 1920s.
The Museum of Art has one of the world’s richest collections of cloisonnéd enamel-on-gold (8th-15th cc.), and exhibits demonstrate the development of this art in Georgia. Also on display is one of the richest and most unique collections of golden vitreous enamel, the Khakhuli triptych.
Until March 14
ANNIVERSARY-RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION
GIGO GABASHVILI 155
Showcasing various paintings and graphic works, manuscripts and electronic versions of Gabashvili’s photographs, the exhibition also features a reconstruction of the artist's room with his furniture and personal items. Many exhibits are displayed to the public for the first time.
3) MUSEUM OF SOVIET OCCUPATION
Address: 3 Shota Rustaveli Ave.
TEL: +995 299 80 22
www.museum.ge
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 5.30 PM
Tickets: Adult – 5 GEL, Student – 1 GEL, School children – 0.5 GEL, Children under
6 – GEL; Guide service –10-25 GEL.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
The museum was opened on May 26, 2006. The permanent exhibition includes over 3000 exhibits depicting 70 years of the occupation of Georgia by Bolshevik Russia (1921-1991). Discover the State's personal files of "subversive" Georgian public figures, orders to shoot or exile, and other artifacts representing Soviet-era cultural and political repression in Georgia.
4) ETHNOGRAPHIC OPEN AIR MUSEUM
Address: 1 Turtle Lake
TEL: +995 223 09 60, +995 222 63 02
www.museum.ge
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 5.30 PM
Tickets: Adult –5 GEL, Student –1 GEL, School children –0.5 GEL, Children under
6 – GEL; Guide service –10-25 GEL
The museum boasts houses and household buildings brought from around Georgia, representing 14 ethnographic zones: Kartli, Samegrelo, Adjara, Abkhazia, Svaneti, Khevsureti, Kakheti, Meskheti, Javakheti, Guria, Imereti, Racha, Lechkhumi and Ossetia.
5) GEORGIAN STATE MUSEUM OF THEATER, MUSIC, CINEMA & CHOREOGRAPHY (ART PALACE)
Address: 6 Kargareteli Str.
TEL: +995 295 35 63
www.artspalace.ge
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 12 - 5 PM
Tickets: Adult –2 GEL, Students and School children –1 GEL.
The building of the Georgian State Museum of Theater, Music, Cinema and Choreography was built at the end of 19th century by famous architect Paul Stern and is a fine example of Islamic gothic works. In 1927 this building became home to the Theater Museum and now houses over 300,000 exhibits, including posters, theater costumes, original paintings, books and music scores.
6) SIGHNAGHI MUSEUM
Address: 8 Rustaveli Alley, Sighnaghi
TEL: 223 24 48
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 5.30 PM
Tickets: Adult –3 GEL, Student –1 GEL, School children –0.5 GEL, Children under 6 – FREE.
EXHIBITIONS:
ETHNOGRAPHY
Numerous ethnographic materials, including musical instruments, tools, garments, and everyday items, are presented as part of the permanent exhibition at the Sighnaghi Museum.
MEDIEVAL ARCHEOLOGY
Details of daily life as experienced in a medieval (4th-18th century) Eastern Iberian settlement.
NIKO PIROSMANASHVILI
The rich collections of the 19th-20th century self-educated artist Niko Pirosmanashvili's are one of the main features at the musuem.
Pirosmani was born in the village of Mirzaani, in Kakheti. His early works represent the culture of this region, known for its beautiful landscapes and winemaking. His distinctive works are of paramount importance not only for Georgian culture, but for global art.
LADO GUDIASHVILIS'S ARTWORK
An exhibition presenting the artists 2nd creative phase, identifying an emphasis on pictorial and plastic values.
Until April 1
For the 10th anniversary of Sighnaghi Museum, Georgian National Museum presents
ELENE AKHVLEDIANI’S RETROSPECTIVE & NIKO PIROSMANASHVILI’S RENEWED EXPOSITION.
Elene Akhvlediani’s retrospective exhibition showcases the artist’s paintings and graphic works, including landscapes and theatrical sketches from the collections of the Elene Akhvlediani house-museum and Sh. Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts.
Niko Pirosmanashvili’s exposition is renewed with the paintings “Deer at a Stream”, “Robber with a Stolen Horse,” “Carousal in a Vine Parasol,” “Woman with a Beer Mug” and the portrait of Shota Rustaveli, from the collections of Museum of Fine Arts.
GALLERIES
1) DIMITRI SHEVARDNADZE GALLERY
Address: 11, Rustaveli Ave., Tbilisi, Georgia
TEL: 2 15 73 00
OPEN: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 6 PM
Tickets: Adult –5 GEL, School children –0.5 GEL, Children under 6 – FREE.
Guided Tours: Up to 10 persons 25 GEL
School groups: 10 GEL
Until February 25
Georgian National Museum and Stedley Art Foundation present
A solo exhibition:
CARDBOARD. WOOD. STONE
BY CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN
ARTIST ALEXANDER ZHYVOTKOV
The exhibition features the series: "Roads," "Kyiv. 2014," "Motherboard," "Variations in Stone" and "Vengeance Is Mine," which includes over 50 works created over the past five years.
Until March 3
MICHELANGELO & THE SISTINE CHAPEL
Georgian National Museum and the Embassy of Italy to Georgia present
THE EXHIBITION OF PREPARATORY DRAWINGS BY
MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI.
The exhibition displays six graphic works by Italian artist, sculptor, architect and poet of the Renaissance epoch, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), created between 1508 and 1510, during his work on the Sistine Chapel.
Visitors can see the graphic details, including the hand from the fresco "Creation of Adam," and figures from the fresco "The Fall of Man and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden." The exposition also incorporates multimedia, and a screening of the film "Journey to Discover Michelangelo."
2) ERTI GALLERY
Address: 19 P. Ingorokva Str.
Until March 8
SUPER HUMANS.
UTA BEKAIA’S SOLO SHOW
Curator: Levan Mindiashvili
“Super Humans” marks Bekaia’s growing interest in his native Georgian folklore and mythology. The entire gallery space and window have been transformed into an immersive, experiential multi-channel video installation, reviving nine characters from different fairy tales that had the biggest influence on the artist in his childhood.
Project Partner: Tbilisi MOMA
Sponsor: Marjanishvili Theater
Producer: Lika Evgenidze
3) DÉDICACE GALLERY
Address: 27 Atoneli Str.
TEL: 599 42 54 14
Until February 25
WESTERN SECTOR
BY MURTAZ SHVELIDZE
Murtaz Shvelidze’s paintings are direct and nostalgic, resembling an album whose images trigger a chain of memories about relationships, ephemeral situations, and emotions frozen in time.