Traditional greeting cards bring cheer this Christmas

Christmas is a time of giving and being with the people you love – and what better way to offer best wishes to your family than by sending them a handmade greeting card.

In today’s era of digital messaging, the tradition of sending greeting cards is almost dying out but Art Palace Museum in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi is trying to revive the bygone trend by allowing some of Georgia’s younger citizens to make their own versions of Georgia’s historic greeting cards.

This festive season Art Palace is hosting an educational project that will see school-aged children create and send copies of traditional greeting cards to their loved ones.

The cards, part of the Art Palace’s "unique collection”, dated back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were intricately designed, delicately crafted and filled with messages of love.

The original greeting cards in the Art Palace collection feature multi-layered and three-dimensional depictions of characters and scenes. Photo from Art Palace.

The ‘living cards’, as they were called, featured various art techniques and were often multi-layered or three-dimensional to portray scenes from fairy tales, religious legends and the world's locations.

Inscribed inside were messages and wishes of success, happiness and love the senders wanted delivered to their loved ones and the cards were always gratefully accepted by the receivers.

Organisers of the project said interested children must register to take part.