Freshly treated artifacts presented to the public
Monday, September 24
The Georgian National Museum (GNM) in partnership with their German colleagues presented New Life of Oriental Collections in the frames of the European Union (EU) funded Twinning project “Support to the Institutional Development of the Georgian National Museum.”
The 180 objects from the Egyptian, Islamic world and Far East culture, presented at the modern exhibition hall of the Simon Janashia Museum on September 17 was part of the huge collection previously kept artifacts housed at the Shota Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts under improper climate conditions.
Before presenting the exhibits to the public, the team of Georgian-German scientists processed the damaged objects which were processed by anoxic treatment, cleaned, made full inventory of and inputted in digital format.
This was the EU’s first twinning project in the cultural sector, and as the beneficiary, the GNM partnered with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the German National Museum in Berlin.
“It is a very important collection and I am happy that our museum has managed to keep it together with our German colleagues and present it to the public,” Davit Lortkipanidze, General Director of the GNM said at the exhibition, proud that New Life of Oriental Collections is not only a slogan but the reality. “We already have a team which can deal with any task,” he told The Messenger.
Feeling sad that the Twinning project has ended, Lortkipanidze said cooperation with their German partners will continue in other projects.
The main goal of the Twinning Project launched in 2012 was to strengthen the GNM as an institution, assist in the introduction of the best practices in the museum's activities – particularly in the fields of building planning, collection removal, restoration and conservation of objects, museum management and so on. The Oriental Collection removal has been a pilot project within the framework of the multi-phase project.
Summarizing the past two-year's activities with The Messenger, Hermann Parzinger, President of the Foundation for Prussian Cultural Heritage, said that although they are standing in the right way, “it is still an ongoing process.”
He said this opening exhibition is not just storage but it shows how future collections can be preserved.
