Protesters gathered at Pushkin Square demand publication of culture ministry's plans for Fine Arts Museum

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Friday, August 6

The engineering study commissioned by the ministry contained conclusions on the current state of the Museum of Fine Arts, which said that the side of the venue facing the adjacent Gudiashvili Street side ‘might not be commercially viable’.

The rally ‘Save the Art Museum’ was attended by civil activists, politicians and representatives of the cultural sphere.

A rally was held at Pushkin Square to save a multi-year building in the center of Tbilisi, where the Art Museum is located. Yesterday, two rallies were organized with similar demand; however, given the current epidemic situation, the organizers of the rally invited only vaccinated citizens.

"The building with the status of a cultural heritage monument of national importance, the Shalva Amiranashvili Art Museum, the collection preserved in it, is a treasure of Georgian culture and its function should not be changed!" - say the organizers of the rally.

The requirements of the rally are:

The project of strengthening and restoration of the building of the Art Museum should be performed by specialists of high professional qualification and inviolable reputation.

A detailed plan for the evacuation of museum funds and exhibits should be made public, indicating the responsible persons, the exact location of the temporary placement of the exhibits, and the process should be avoided by unqualified officials.

The Ministry of Culture should ensure public involvement in decisions related to the Art Museum and full transparency of the process.

According to the decision of the Minister of Culture, the evacuation of the Art Museum should start on August 5, and the building should be completely emptied of thousands of exhibits in a few months. The 10-page evacuation plan does not say where the museum's golden exhibits are transferred to.

Protesters say they have no confidence in the government and it is important that all exhibits that leave the museum are returned after rehabilitation. Protesters plan to apply to the Ministry of Education and collect signatures.

Recall that on July 4, 2021, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia, Tea Tsulukiani, issued a special statement informing the public that the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art has entered a special mode of management. The reason is the breakdown of the building and the insecurity of the exhibits. The statement said that the Ministry, in April 2021, began to study the condition of the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art in April 2021 and finally decided to restore the museum, which houses more than 80% of Georgia’s art.

It should be noted that the expert report does not recommend the dismantling of the building and, in general, does not mention the need for this size. We read in the conclusion that as a result of a number of measures, it is quite possible to strengthen the central part of the building, to ensure its safe operation. The events surrounding the Art Museum following this announcement have provoked protests from a section of the public, although the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Education has said nothing about the potential restoration and is starting to empty the museum.

The conclusion of the engineering study commissioned by ministry led opposition-minded media channels, a part of the public and culture field professionals to conclude the ministry was preparing grounds for "demolishing" the museum for the benefit of a recently constructed nearby hotel belonging to the highly controversial Panorama Tbilisi, a $500 million development project implemented by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund - established by Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Despite the ministry's plans to restore the museum, announced back in April and again in the 10-year action plan presentation the claims were made and they were aided by managerial changes made by the ministry, including a removal of Eka Kiknadze, the former manager of the museum, from the evacuation plan of the venue's exhibits in April. She said a new plan for the evacuation, made after her demotion, had not been made available to her despite her administrative letter with the demand which has led to suspicions.

Local offices of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS Georgia) and International Council of Museums (ICOM Georgia), as well as the Georgian National Committee of the Blue Shield have issued a joint statement last week which called the state authority's plan to evacuate all exhibits from the museum to neighbouring Georgian National Museum venues within 6 months impossible and unrealistic. The statement also noted that the preservation of the monument ‘would only be acceptable through safeguarding its authenticity and integrity’.